A bag of school supplies might seem small, but it made these kids’ day

Many Midlands school children badly need school supplies – that was obvious Sunday at the annual back-to-school bash put on by the Finlay Scholars Initiative.

The event, which provided free school supplies, hot dogs and cold desserts, officially kicked off at 4 p.m. But people were gathered in the parking lot of Staples on Devine Street well before that. Organizer Chris Sullivan said the parking lot was packed at 2:30 p.m.

“A lot of single mothers are struggling due to the economy,” Sullivan said. “It feels way better when you have exactly what the counterpart next to you has.”

One of the people eager to get their youngsters ready for school was Columbia resident Julia Price, who brought her 6-year-old son Carter. Price works at another Staples location, she said, but she came out Sunday as a mother rather than an employee.

“We came out for the supplies, the food, the fun, and just to get out on a Sunday afternoon,” Price said. “I’m not really sure what’s in the bags, so I’ll be just excited as everybody else, because I don’t know what’s in them.”

The bags contained pencils, pens, erasers, papers, rulers and folders – “just the basic supplies that every child needs to get back to school,” said state Rep. Kirkman Finlay, R-Richland, one of the event’s partners.

Last year, the event provided supplies to about 700 students, according to a news release. Organizers estimated this year was even bigger, saying more than 600 students had already been served halfway through the two-hour event. Partners in the event included Staples, AmerisBank, Richland County Councilman Damon Jeter and Finlay.

“It has taken off pretty well,” Jeter said. “Each year, it continues to grow.”

This was the fifth year for the back-to-school back, organizers said. Finlay said it’s a way to fill a community need and serve a cause that was dear to his father – the late Kirkman Finlay Jr., who was Columbia’s mayor from 1978 to 1986. He was widely regarded as one Columbia’s strongest modern mayors, pushing for projects such as the Koger Center, Sidney Park, and Riverfront Park.

The Finlay Scholars Initiative is a scholarship program in memory of the late mayor.

“The economy is still a little slow,” Rep. Finlay said. “This is one of the two traditional times of year that people really feel pressed – back to school, and Christmas.”

For Emma McInnes, a rising senior at Dutch Fork High School and a member of the school’s Beta Club, volunteering at the back-to-school bash was a way to help others succeed in the journey she’s about to finish.

“It’s kind of like passing on the torch,” she said. “I’ve seen how far I’ve come, and so now I get to see how far these kids can come.”

This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 7:41 PM with the headline "A bag of school supplies might seem small, but it made these kids’ day."