Lifting the Family Back to School Event

Last Saturday I attended a Back to School event in a low-income section of Columbus.  When I arrived, there was a line of families winding around the building, waiting to have access to the racks of clothes they could riffle trough to find some new school clothes.  There was a group offering free physical and booster shots, and there were bouncy castles to play in!

The best part, of course, was this:

Hello Benefit Bank Mobile Unit!  I was at the event with one of our Benefit Bank host sites: East Columbus Developement Company.  They are a great site in the middle of a very underserved neighborhood, doing great work in the area, and they wanted to advertise the Benefit Bank service. So we tag-teamed with Russ and Erin in the van, as they could do Quick Checks and refer people to our table to make an appointment if they were indeed eligible. 

I also got to meet the woman in charge, the lady of the day, the powerhouse behind organizing events like this and mobilizing the community: Pastor Sue.

She doesn't have a building or office to work out of as I understand, she just pulls together whatever money and people she can get and feeds/clothes hundreds of people at different endeavors.  I've heard a couple people talk about her, so it was great to finally meet her and be at an event that she organized.  Hopefully I can continue to work with her in the future, considering if she does end up settling in a building she would be a great Benefit Bank site! I find site recruitment is infiltrating my mind.  I see most non-profits, churches, or any place that potentially has contact with low to moderate income people, as a Benefit Bank site.