On left, Rachel Lammers, 13, of Batavia, gets her hair cut by stylist Amy Leyendecker, who volunteered her services for the Grace Ready Fest on Aug. 6, 2016 in downtown Batavia. The event offered local families free resources such as school supplies and clothes, in preparation for the upcoming school year.
On left, Rachel Lammers, 13, of Batavia, gets her hair cut by stylist Amy Leyendecker, who volunteered her services for the Grace Ready Fest on Aug. 6, 2016 in downtown Batavia. The event offered local families free resources such as school supplies and clothes, in preparation for the upcoming school year.

By Megan Alley
Sun staff

 

On Aug. 6 in the village of Batavia, dozens of area church groups, community organizations and business sponsors came together to put on a free resources event for local families in need.

Organizers of the Grace Ready Fest closed several blocks downtown and set up booths, each of which offered local families a free resource such as food, school supplies, clothes or an opportunity to get their hair cut, all in preparation for the upcoming school year.

This was the first year for the event and organizers said it was such a success that they’ll host it again next year.

“We’ve had an incredibly good reaction,” said event coordinator Jim Sears, of the Christian Help Center, located at 247 E. Main St.

CHC’s mission, as stated on its website, to meet the immediate needs of people for the purpose of leading them to abundant life in Jesus Christ; the organization served as host and sponsor of the event.

Sears said the event was targeted at helping families in Batavia, Williamsburg and Amelia.

Throughout the year, outreach representatives from the organizing groups, as well as local schools, recruited, identified and pre-registered 564 kids who would most benefit from the free resources.

“We’ve had an incredibly good reaction; we’re expecting to see more than 1,000 people today,” said Bill Raper, event chairman and parishioner at The Crossing church, which meets at Williamsburg High School.

Raper and his fellow organizers have been working for the past four months to put on the event.

“It’s great to see it realized,” he added, “The turnout has gone beyond my expectations; I’m really pleased.”

Johnnie Valentine, of Felicity, participated in the event with her five children, ranging in ages from 2 to 6 years old.

“The event has helped me tremendously,” she said. “With five children, it’s kind of hard to buy supplies and provide for their clothing.”

Vickie Stanley, of Milford, participated in the event with her two kids, ages 1 and 6, her sister and niece. Stanley is a parishioner at River Hills Christian Church in Loveland.

“I got school supplies and some clothes,” Stanly said. “This event helped a lot and it means a lot that they want to help even residents in Milford out.”

She added, “My daughter got the school supplies and stuff and that she needed; she even got her face painted, which she really liked.”

Amy Leyendecker, a hairstylist, was recruited by Raper, her brother, to volunteer for the event.

“I did this because I just wanted to be able to help and give back,” she said. “I think that everybody needs help, but sometimes it feels good to give back.

She added, “The responses have been really great; people have been really thankful.”