On Saturday, a church in Alexandria, Virginia, gave away thousands of computer tablets to help young students in need prepare for the upcoming school year.
It’s the 20th anniversary of the 鈥淏rother鈥檚 Keeper Outreach Project鈥� at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. This year, they commemorated the occasion by giving aid to struggling families.
Over 650 families showed up to the Nannie J. Lee Center in Alexandria, where they received a clear bag with school supplies. Instead of the traditional notebook and pencils, each bag contained a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 for each student.
Rev. Marcia Norfleet, staff minister with Alfred Baptist, told 海角社区app that COVID-19 has transformed the classroom to be extremely reliant on personal computers.
鈥淚t changed everything and changed the way kids learn, changed the classroom,鈥� Norfleet said. 鈥淪o we thought it was best to give another piece of technology for the home, just in case people were sharing.鈥�
Marquitta Johnson, a mother of three school-aged boys, was shocked when she received the tablet.
鈥淚 was really expecting to get paper and pencil 鈥� So I’m truly shocked and blessed,鈥� a beaming Johnson told 海角社区app after receiving the tablet. 鈥淭his is great!鈥�
In addition to the tablet and its protective case, the bags also included a children鈥檚 book, a Bible, as well as Wal-Mart and Amazon gift cards for back-to-school shopping.
For families that could not be at Saturday’s giveaway, the church plans to ship additional supplies to 25 Title 1 schools in the area, benefiting some 13,000 students.
Norfleet said today’s event was simply a part of the church’s mission.
鈥淲e’re mandated to take care of one another. It鈥檚 important because there’s so many people without, who lack,” she said. “And our mission is to try to meet the need, meet the lack.鈥�
