Posted on July 30, 2019
By Tia Lyons
Staff Writer
With a new school year just around the corner, Meet Me at the Court and the Bailey Family is making sure area students have what they need to start the semester off right.
The sixth annual Sharion Bailey Whitlock From Court to Class School Supply Giveaway is set for 2 p.m. Saturday on the basketball court in the area of Columbia and Lester.
The event and school supplies are free and students in Union County, K – 12, are invited to participate.
Grilled hot dogs and hamburgers will be served with chips and a beverage.
Organizer Veronica Bailey, her family and Meet Me at the Court launched the event in honor of Bailey’s late sister, Whitlock, who passed away in 2012 and who had a well-known passion for working with children.
This year’s event will honor another Bailey family member who was a staunch supporter of the school supply giveaway and other Meet Me at the Court activities.
Bailey and Whitlock’s father, Robert L. Bailey Sr., passed away July 15 at the age of 95.
Veronica Bailey said she wanted to assure the community that the family is continuing on with the giveaway this year to carry on her father and sister’s legacy of advocating for education.
“A lot of people had started calling, wanting to donate for the school supply giveaway and some of them said, ‘Ms. (Veronica), I know you’re not going going to do it this year,’” Veronica Bailey said.
“My dad, he was the root of it. He was the head, the supervisor of that project,” she continued. “Every year, he would say, ‘It’s time to get started helping every child get the tools they need to get their education,’ and that’s what I’m doing, getting started.”
In addition to bundles of school supplies — including pencils/colored pencils, ink pens, binders, two-pocket folders, loose leaf paper, construction paper, glue and more — there will also be drawings to win backpacks during the giveaway.
In 2018, Meet Me at the Court and the Bailey Family distributed school supplies to 102 students and Bailey said she is hoping to give away more Saturday.
For more information, call Veronica Bailey at 870-310-0391, Willie Mc-Ghee at 870-314-1441, Peggy Johnson at 870-677-9748 or James Curley at 870-310-0745.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or tlyons@eldoradonews.com.