Parents of students in kindergarten through eighth grade anticipated spending an average of $333 on back-to-school shopping, an increase from $315 last year, according to a survey by the online learning platform Prodigy.
Dalton area families got some relief from that Saturday from the Dalton Whitfield NAACP and Shaw Industries at the annual Back to School Jam at the Mack Gaston Community Center where children were able to pick up book bags full of school supplies.
“We have been doing this since 2021,” said Chelsea DeWaters, communications committee chair for the NAACP. “Part of our mission as a local unit is to help take care of the community. A lot of our efforts and events are aimed at providing for families and bringing people together. Shaw Industries sponsors the actual school supplies, and volunteers from Shaw and the Dalton Whitfield NAACP stuff all the backpacks and hand out all the backpacks.”
More than 600 backpacks were provided.
“We have different ones for different age groups,” said DeWaters. “Elementary school, middle school, high school have different school supply lists. The parents tell us what grade their child is, and we give them a backpack with the supplies recommended for that grade.”
The event also provided free haircuts and hot dogs and chips and brought together community organizations that serve families and children.
“We want to specially thank our main sponsor, Shaw Industries; second sponsor, TMobile; and our gentlemen who provided free back-to-school haircuts. They are Shannon Terry, Derrick Tinson, Tony Castro and Derek Miglia,” said DeWaters.