By Drew Johnson
Summer sure sprang over the past month or so! As I write this, we are looking at 102 degrees temperatures this weekend—a bit of a jolt to the system after a relatively cold spring. We have a lot of things going on this summer and I wanted to get some info out about our programming.
Much of our summer is devoted to preparing for the Backpack Bonanza, a school supply giveaway that we put on every year with Generous Hands. We will be collecting school supplies in June and July and distributing them to our clients (usually about 300!) at the very beginning of August. If you’d like to donate, please bring in supplies by July 22nd! We have a full list of needs at the office and on our Facebook page. We always look forward to seeing how happy the kids are with their new backpacks and school supplies.
As the weather warms up, we have also been out getting homes repaired—we are working on a few homes with the Village of Vicksburg Home Repair Program and lots of smaller repairs (like windows and siding) on owner-occupied homes that sustained damage from last year’s tornadoes at Pavilion Estates. We are also available to help with ramps for seniors or veterans. These types of projects make a big difference in people’s lives—we surveyed our clients recently and home repair was ranked as one of our most impactful programs.
Our work on the South County Senior Center is heating up as well! We are designing a logo and putting up a large sign at Vicksburg United Methodist this summer, which we hope to show off at our one-year Open House this fall. If you haven’t checked out our schedule for a little while, you might want to—we’ve added a lot of programs in the past few months! Coming up are several arts classes with Vicksburg Arts, as well as some presentations by WMU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), and our own Lunch and Learns. We have also recently added the South County Stitchers to our weekly schedule.
With the summer also comes outreach events! Brian, Sherri, and I will be at a bunch of different events throughout the summer… so far we’ve already been to Bits of Business (at the Portage Zhang Senior Center) and the first BURG Days of Summer; we also plan to be at the Vicksburg Tailgate, and the Harvest Festival in Vicksburg, among others. We love getting out and spreading the word about our services. If you see us, say hi!
With that, I think I’m going to go outside and walk around—you know it’s not going to stay this nice forever!
Drew Johnson lives in Kalamazoo and is the director at South County Community Services. He has a small quarter-acre homestead with chickens, bees, and hops (and more!), a wonderful wife, and three energetic children. He can be reached at 649-2901 or ajohnson@southcountycs.com
For more information on South County Community Services, please check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/southcountycs or visit our website: southcountycs.com.
