JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
Kimball’s Chattanooga State Community College campus has once more served as the base of operations for this year’s Give a Child a Chance drive-thru event in Marion County. Hosted every year across all 10 counties that surround Hamilton County in time for the school year, this year’s
drive-thru event had a successful turnout–with all 414 backpacks prepared being handed out to children in need in less than an hour of the drive-thru
opening. Give a Child a Chance was established as an initiative by the Marion County Health Council with the purpose of giving back to the community and by helping supply children with all the school supplies they need before beginning the upcoming semester. Hillard Jones, Chairperson
for the county’s health council, explained how each backpack contains various supplies that each child would need, ranging from pencils and erasers to crayons, notebooks and colored pencils. Backpacks prepared were divided into three separate variations, with backpacks for children in elementary, middle, and high school grades readied for any in need. According to Alexis Pastor of Chattanooga’s State Kimball campus, Marion County’s Give
a Child a Chance drive-thru has been an ongoing event for many years, with it being held at the college since 2022. Years prior, the event was held at Jasper’s Cornerstone Baptist Church before eventually being relocated at the local college. Jones noted various supporters who’ve helped to once again make the drive-thru a successful reality, ranging from the Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) to both Volunteer Behavioral Health and SVEC (Sequatchie Valley Electrical Company) serving as major donors. Additional donations stem from local churches and businesses, all the way to the county government and Mountain Valley Bank. “Also Life Recovery Center came and brought us a lot of items. And really it’s a community effort, and we give out everything we get from everybody here in our community,” stated Pastor. Several youth groups from around the area have played major roles preparing each backpack for handout, while the local Sheriff’s Department also contributed their support by assisting during the event. The event also serves as a major contributor for the widely known Red Sand Project, a public effort which brings awareness to human trafficking across the globe. Everyone involved culminated their work and support into establishing yet another successful year of donating school supplies to those in need. Plans to prepare more backpacks for next year’s drive-thru are in place to ensure more children go to school prepared for the classes ahead of them.