This year as the school year started back up for young students, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Owensboro, Kentucky participated in the H.L. Neblett Center’s 1st Annual Back to School Bash. Tami King, Director of Finance for the H.L Neblett center stated, “we currently service between 125-135 children during the week in our after school program. We started noticing most of the children had a great need for school supplies so we decided to jump in and help.” This need they saw was used as part of the inspiration for the first year of this new annual event.
The campus staff, faculty, and students were immediately enthusiastic about being a part of this new event that would make such a beneficial impact on local children, families, and classrooms. Campus Director LaTasha Shemwell stated, “I did not hesitate when asked to participate in the Back to school Bash. Being a single mother myself, I know how hard it can be to purchase school supplies. I also wanted to make sure that our campus participated so that we could alleviate some stress from parents and also help our local children be equipped with the proper items needed to have a successful school year.”
In addition to hosting the event, the H.L Neblett Center decided to also offer free hairstyles and haircuts the day before the event so that students could start the new school year with a fresh, new hairdo! “Volunteers from around the Tri-state including myself serviced over 50 children,” LaTasha Shemwell shared. “The smiles on their faces when their hair was finished being styled or cut was priceless.” The students, staff, and faculty were also excited to be able to collect and then donate 280 items such as paper, glue sticks, scissors, pencils, and tissue. Olga McKissic, the Executive Director for the H.L. Neblett Center stated, “I feel the events were a complete success. The children left happy and the parents could focus on other items needed for school.”