VIDEO: Community Fills Backpacks for Students in Need

HOUSTON, Miss. (WCBI)- It may still be July but one area community is already in the back to school mode.

They were lined up outside the Houston Middle School Gymnasium and the line stretched all the way back around the corner.

They all came to get what was inside free school supplies, Sheena Kirby Jones organized the event eight years ago and it has grown ever since.

“I’m just glad that the community is buying into it. That means we know how important education is to our district so I just hope kids just keep coming because statistics show a kid that goes in school the very first day with supplies have almost an 89-percent chance of graduating and finishing school,” says Jones.

This event would not have been possible without the partnership of the United Way.

There were other members of the community on hand including representatives of Houston law enforcement.

A special guest was Houston’s own Molly May Miss Mississippi State University.

“This year as Miss Mississippi State University it’s my role to love all children across the state. But in today’s role here in Houston Mississippi I’m so proud of my home town. I love coming back to the school that I once walked the halls of and so today as all the children file in to get their school supplies it’s my job just to love on them and tell them that they are beautiful that they are wanted and that learning is so much fun and school supplies are so much fun to get,” says May.

Parents also understood how important it was for the children to be prepared when they head back to school.

The United Way provides similar school supply give-a-ways in other counties including Pontotoc, Union, and Lee Counties.