100 Black Men of Madison held their annual Back to School Celebration Saturday morning, handing out more than 1,400 backpacks to local students.
While the event has been a major success every single year, this year’s event was particularly spectacular. Moving indoors from their usual space at Demetral Park on Madison’s east side, the Back to School giveaway found a new home in the sparkling and sprawling new Welcome Center at Madison College’s Truax Campus.
Lines and lines of children filled the Truax Welcome Center where more than a thousand backpacks filled with school supplies were given away. The event provided not just fun for the children, but a chance for them to start the school year feeling good about themselves.
“We had more than 1,400 backpacks to give to anyone who can make it out today and it looks like we’re going to give them all away today,” said 100 Black Men Vice President Chris Canty. “So it’s a huge impact for those in need. And then the kids get off to a fantastic start to the school year. We also have twenty-eight resource tables on anything from free books to teaching kids how to vote. Madison College has a table and is looking at future students. So it really has become a community event. We had lines around the corner.”
For years the event was held outdoors but with the help of Madison College President Jack Daniels, they were able to move to the college campus. Coming to Madison College provided more than just climate control, however. It also gave children from predominantly black and brown communities to visit a college campus and see what it is all about.
“This is just an opportunity for us to give back to the community and make this an annual event,” Madison College President Jack E. Daniels said. “Many of these kids come from impoverished homes. They don’t have the types of funds to be provided with supplies. This gives them a step forward the first day they get in. They need to have this stuff the first day. Not the Tenth day. Not the first month. The first day.”
Daniels spent time next to the Madison College resource table, where pamphlets about how to earn scholarships or get college funding as well as educational tools were being handed out.
“What you’re doing also is you’re building a culture,” Daniels said. “It’s a college-going culture. And that starts early.”
Feeling good about themselves in a classroom full of peers is paramount. No one wants to be the kid who doesn’t have the good notebook, shoes, bag or clothing. For families facing economic struggles or fighting against homelessness, this event helps ease some of those burdens.
For the kids those outward things feed how they feel about themselves. But for adult members of the community, the Back to School event represented even more. Hundreds of children mostly from Black and Brown communities got to see how many people are invested in them but also got the chance to be at an event with men and women of color who have become successful in life and were there giving back.
“I think events like this are incredibly important for people in the community and not just for families and kids,” said Madison Police Officer Lore Vang. “Clearly people in the community are invested, showing kids there’s a lot of resources available for them and they’re not alone in this treacherous adventure to educate and keep people safe in this country. I think as a person who works for the city and the community, the message it shows is that all these organizations are here to show some support and it allows the kids to understand they’re part of a bigger community.”
Vang hoped that even though he was there in uniform as a police officer, kids would see him as an example of something they can aspire to as well as see him as someone there to help them. Vang said that events like this help break down stereotypes on many sides of issues.
“It’s tough because we show up and we’re in uniform,” Vang said. “But I just wanna show up and be part of the community too. Talk with these kids. Deep down inside we’re humans too and I want them to know that we are. When you talk to these kids in the future if they remember there was one time that someone gave them a free backpack or some snacks or that they could talk to a police officer without being scared, if those things can stick with them, those are important lessons for kids to see. They aren’t this forgotten part of the community.”
Becoming a policeman or firefighter are often two of the desired jobs for the youngest kids. Having police officers and firefighters of color at the event provided kids with the chance to interact with people who came out of the same communities.
Fire Chief Johnny Winston, who earlier in the week was honored for his work in the community at an awards banquet stood with Officer Vang in a move designed to show the kids faces they could aspire to.
“This is a wonderful event,” Winston said. “What it does is gets the kids off to a great start for the school year. They’re able to interface with their teachers and some of the principals that have come to the event. The Hundred Black Men have done a masterful job at making this an all-encompassing thing, so I’m glad the Madison Fire Department could be part of it.”
UW Health and Group Health Cooperative were there giving kids resources for where to go for health care. A voting registration booth was set up to teach kids how to register to vote and cast a ballot (voting for their favorite fruits and vegetables). The voting booth was a big hit at the event and provided a subtle push to Black and Brown kids to get out and vote when they’re of age.
The art gallery on the lower level of Madison College was also open where children toured works of art done by students who went to college the way they hopefully will.
With all the swirling narratives of community, art, people of color giving back, fighting for the vote, most of the kids received the deepest lesson of all.
The donuts were really good and the backpacks were really cool!
But for One Hundred Black Men as an organization and members of the community at large, the event was a huge success that gives hope for expanding even more next year.
“The turnout has been amazing,” said JR Sims of One Hundred Black Men. “Kids were lined up beginning at around 8 or 8:30 this morning and it’s been a steady stream, a steady flow all day long. Every year this event grows. They’re going to start on an even footing with all the other kids regardless of income, regardless of race, regardless of where they live. These kids are going to have an excellent jump start on the school year.”
