The 1200 Church hosted a back to school community fun-day on Saturday.
The ultimate purpose of the community fun-day was to give less fortunate families free school supplies. There was also free food and games for kids to enjoy. The Tallahassee Police Department and the Tallahassee Fire Department were in attendance to manage the day.
This was the first community fun-day the church has had, but Andy Hinton, community outreach coordinator, says he plans to make it an annual event and that he was surprised by the turnout for the event.
"This is going to be an annual event, but this is our first event." Hinton said. "The perimeters, trying to figure out exactly who we're going to impact and how many, this kind of set the stage right here. We had enough stuff for maybe 400 people, but we blew it out."
Hinton also said the event was short-notice.
" I got an idea and I had to act quick because school was starting right around the corner,” Hinton said. "This was put together in a month and a half."
Kareem Rashed, a member of 1200 Church, said the fun-day serves an important purpose.
" I feel this event was greatly needed for the community." Rashed said. "Simply because everybody doesn't have money and the resources to provide for their kids and to get the supplies they need. I think it's a great way to just go ahead and provide for them so they can automatically have the supplies before they enter into school; and I think it's a great way to bring the community together."
Rashed said he was surprised by the turn-out at the fun-day as well.
"I actually am surprised by the turnout because when I looked at the weather this morning, it said there was a 93 percent chance of rain,” Rashed said. "So I didn’t know whether that would stop people from showing up or not. But it's a great turnout and I'm excited about it.”
Members of the community were appreciative of the event. Cam Mitchell, mother of five, gave her account on the fun-day.
"For the most part I think it brings people together. It also helps people who are in need and it benefits families,” Mitchell said. "Kids are having fun, people have smiles on their faces, there's food and a lot of people came out. I really think people are appreciative of today."
The 1200 Church is located at 1200 West Tharpe St.
For information on upcoming events, visit www.1200.church.