Coweta Family Connection, Caring Hearts Donate 1,200 Backpacks

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Video Credit: Ethan Bryant


By Will Thomas

Saturday saw several local organizations work together to distribute more than 1,200 backpacks filled with school supplies to the public.

The donations were a part of Coweta Family Connection and Caring Hearts of Georgia’s third annual Back to School Bash hosted at the Central Educational Center. The total number of backpacks distributed more than doubled from last year’s event.

Jeanette Bryant, the coordinator of Coweta Family Connection, discussed the organization’s goals and the lessons learned from previous events.

Last year, the organization prepared approximately 550 backpacks. However, the supply of bags was gone before they were able to serve everyone who attended the Back to School Bash in 2023, according to Bryant.

“This year, we promised ourselves that we would not turn away any students who attended the 2024 Back to School Bash,” she said. “We wanted to ensure that we bridged the gap that occurred last year and were prepared to provide every student who attended our event with a backpack.”

Bryant said such an ambitious goal would be next to impossible to achieve without a few helping hands along the way.

The community appeared in droves the Friday before the event to help fill bags with supplies and prepare them for transit.

The day of the event was no different as volunteers helped distribute the bags.

“We had over 50 volunteers on Friday to help fill the bags with supplies,” Bryant said. “We had 42 volunteers sign up on Saturday and two churches sent an additional six people to help that we were thrilled to welcome.”

The main event was a success, with over 1,100 bags handed out on Saturday alone. In the following days, the remaining bags were also donated.

“We had 98 bags remaining and several people reached out to us after the event requesting a bag, including some of our community members currently experiencing homelessness and living in hotels,” Bryant said. “We now have no bags remaining.”

In addition to the donated bags, numerous grants, donations, and scholarship funding allowed Coweta Family Connection and Caring Hearts to raise more than $12,000 from the event.

The public’s response amazed Bryant, who said the success of the event relied on community support.

Clothes Less Traveled, a nonprofit thrift store based in Peachtree City, provided the organizations with a truck to transport the backpacks.

Coweta Force, a nonprofit located in Newnan, lent their office space for storage purposes.

“The outpouring of support from our community was incredible, with the various organization stepping in to help. We could never organize a community event of this magnitude without the support of our partners and agencies in town,” Bryant said. “The success of this event highlights the strength and unity of our community.”

Read the story on The Newnan Times-Herald.