Spreading Hope Back 2 School Bash Offers Support For Families

As kids go back to school, Supporters of Families with Sickle Cell Disease, a nonprofit organization, is holding an event for families with different needs.

The Spreading Hope Back 2 School Bash serves students with special needs and their parents, and more than 50 agencies are joining together to provide a one-stop shop for families.

The event is this Saturday from 10:00 to 2:00 at Langston University and across the street at BS Roberts Park.

The nonprofit's Community Development Director, Jeremiah Watts, started this event seventeen years ago to benefit students like his son.

“Over nineteen years ago, we found out that our son, he was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease,” Watts said. “He was getting ready to start school, and we've seen many back-to-school events but nothing with children with Sickle Cell, and we knew because of what we were dealing with and the population we had become a part of that they couldn't stand in heat for long periods of time or they couldn't do certain things that other children and families could do, and so we said we have to do something different.”

Along with school supplies and hygiene kits, the event will offer classes for parents to understand Individualized Education Programs and other resources like free immunizations.

Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Ebony Johnson and other team members from the district's Health and Wellness Department will also be there to help with the ‘Back 2 School Bash’.

“We do have students in our district who have various ailments, and it's important we participate for them to know that we have the knowledge to help and that these families know that we care for their child, and we are going to do everything we can to keep them healthy and whole while they are in school with us,” Johnson said.

Watts hopes this event will be convenient for parents and take the stress away as they get their children ready to return to school.

“From a parent's point of view, we know what you are going through,” Watts said. “We understand the hardships that you face. We have been there where you must go to one place to another, five and six different doctors or five and six different appointments. We understand that. So, we understand why it's important to have everything in one place.”

For more information about this weekend’s event, click here.