By Beth Hyatt
The Greenville Advocate

Southside Baptist Church will be hosting the Elementary Extravaganza on Sunday, July 26, at 5 p.m.

The event is designed with elementary children in mind and will help raise money to purchase back to school items for children in need. The idea came from the Back to School Bash held in Georgiana for high school students. It came to the attention of the SBC children’s committee and Pastor Herbert Brown that there had not been an event such as this that would benefit elementary children.

The current goal for this endeavor is to raise more than $6,000 in hopes of purchasing more than 500 backpacks filled with school supplies. The group is partnering with stores such as Walmart and Fred’s to purchase these backpacks and school items in bulk to reduce the cost.

As of now, $4,980 has been collected from the congregation of SBC.

“I am just moved by the love and generosity of our congregation. I am blessed to be apart of God working in and through them,” said Abbie Ballew, chair of the children’s committee.

All donations are welcomed and everyone is encouraged to attend the event, especially those families with elementary school children.

The event will feature bounce houses, hotdogs, balloon artists, a dunking booth, face painting and a black light puppet show performed by the McKenzie Baptist Church. This event is not exclusive to SBC; anyone and everyone is asked to participate and donate.

“I don’t want people to think that this is just a Southside thing,” said Ballew. “I want people to know that this is a God thing. It’s something God showed us we should do.”

It is Ballew’s hope that by reaching such a diverse audience, more children and families will be affected and will be shown the love of Christ.

If you would like to contact someone about making a donation or participating in the event, please call the SBC office at 382-6224.