CCS donates to Community Baby Shower
Jun. 8—Clinton City Schools has donated a box full of newborn necessities to Grace Helping Others, which will donate supplies to first-time mothers in Sampson County as part of an upcoming event.
In an effort to help the local community and local mothers, Grace Helping Others will be hosting the first annual Sampson County Community Baby Shower on June 18. The program will include educational information and baby supply donations.
While there are agencies that provide nutritional assistance to newborns, there is no direct government assistance for diapers or other essentials, the organization said. Diaper costs can range upwards to $100 per month, and babies need six to ten diapers per day. Accoring to figures from Grace, one in three mothers in the United States struggles to provide her child with clean dry diapers.
Grace Helping Others is working in partnership with several local businesses and organizations to close the gap in the community. They are currently seeking volunteers to help reach their goal of servicing 50 local mothers with essential baby products that they may need.
The recipients will need to call the Partnership for Children of Sampson County to sign up for the car seat program and need to sign up for Life Line Sampson to enroll in the education program. Once they have contacted the two agencies, further instruction will be given to recipients.
Dr. Wesley Johnson, Clinton City Schools Superintendent, and Dr. Angela Harding felt this would be a great Community Service Project for students and staff to participate in to fulfill the Social and Emotional Annual Service Project requirements.
"Choose Love" is Clinton City Schools' core curriculum for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). The program was founded by Scarlet Lewis, the mother of Jesse Lewis, who was a victim of the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012. The four components of the program are courage, gratitude, forgiveness and compassion. Throughout the school year, students receive lessons from each one of the four units that support their SEL needs.
In 2020, Clinton City Schools received the North Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (NCASCD) Whole Child Award for its dedication to providing a program that promotes the development of the whole child.
"April through June are our Jesse Lewis Choose Love Compassion in Action Months," Harding said. "During these months, students are encouraged to extend compassion to others by doing something to help someone else or ease their pain. Students, staff and parents were asked to donate newborn necessities to any of the five school sites in Clinton City Schools."
We are excited to receive the donations from stakeholders to help contribute to the local baby shower," she added.
