Caring Hands helps with back to school

DAHLONEGA - A ministry to help those in need made a difference Thursday by holding a ' Back to School Clothes Day' at a Lumpkin County church near Dahlonega.

It was a busy afternoon in the basement of Saint Paul Methodist Church on State Route 60, where items were piled up to help area families struggling with the Recession economy.
Executive Director Ann Fleming said Caring Hands Ministries wants to make going back to school affordable.

"Clothes, toys, the school supplies I think got dispensed with the first 100 people or so," Fleming said.

A lot of the material was new, sent to Caring Hands with grant assistance from 'Americans Helping Americans', a part of 'Christian Relief' based in Alexandria, Virginia and its Appalachian Outreach program.
The group sent four pallets of new clothes, 144 pairs of shoes, diapers, craft supplies and other items to Caring Hands Ministries, which has been serving Hall, White, Habersham and Dawson Counties for about 15 years.

Fleming said over 500 back to school students showed up for supplies and clothes last year; she expects at least that many this year.

"Every child grows so every child outgrows clothes and every child also needs clothes," Fleming said.

"The new clothes are a big help,"Caring Hands president Charles Fleming said. "So many families are having a hard time right now. We doubled the last time we did this and we're tripling the number we're assisting this time."

Becky McNeely from Gainesville would agree. She came to collect school supplies and clothes for her six boys.

"My husband just got a job after being laid off for a year so we're in a really tight spot," she said. We weren't prepared for a lay off at all, we didn't have any savings, we didn't have anything to fall back on. Now with school starting back we're kind of in a crunch."