Back to School Drive with Huntsville Helping Hands

This past Saturday, United Women of Color co-hosted a Back to School Drive with Huntsville Helping Hands (HHH) and it was WONDERFUL!!! Huntsville Helping Hands have been doing back to school drives for the Hispanic and Immigrant community for a couple of years now, but they put a pause on the event in 2022. Now more than ever, Ava Rodenhausen Caldwell with HHH saw a need for the community based event this year. 

UWOC has been assisting HHH and a local church with their monthly food pantry, for over a year now, by supplying volunteers to help pack and deliver food and hygiene products. The list of addresses for deliveries kept increasing as the threat of ICE grew. Families are afraid to leave their homes or lack transportation to do so and volunteers helped close that gap by making the monthly deliveries. That initial partnership with the pantries is what led to UWOC working with HHH on the 2026 Back to School Drive.

Volunteers packing the backpacks full of school supplies.

Ava and I wanted to bring the community together at an event where their kids can receive the supplies they need to be equipped for the school year while feeling safe and loved by their community. So, we started planning: hired security, found a safe space for them to congregate, got a bounce house, games, food, school supplies, etc. This event was for all families who needed school supplies and by being inclusive and including Spanish in flyers we were able to reach all communities including some of the most vulnerable populations. When you learn to accommodate for folks who have the most barriers, you end up accommodating and including everyone!

Click on the image above to see the full slide show!

Over 350 kids and 200 families showed up on July 26th to receive bookbags! Seeing all of the kids put a smile on my face and the volunteers. Seeing the beauty that is community and how blended it is, was amazing. I saw my Muslim brothers and sisters, Latino children, and beautiful Black babies laughing, playing, painting, and eating. One moment that really stood out to me that day was when a mother came with two of her babies and had an older child at home. She needed more supplies for the older child and I let her know what was in the high school bookbags but he would be missing some things. One of the hairstylists, Maria Lemley, was also hosting a Back to School Drive later that week and I told the mom, but she had a transportation barrier. I went back and forth between them with the help of a bilingual volunteer and we got her a ride to the next Back to School Drive! Without hesitation, Maria was able to pick up the mom and her babies to bring them to the drive. That is community and that is why we do what we do.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated in UWOC’s donation drive for school supplies and bookbags! We received over 30 bookbags and 100s of pencils, folders, markers, and crayons! We also had our lovely volunteers donate their time! We had over 40 volunteers show up–they helped prep the bags, did face painting, passed out boxes from the Food Bank, and passed out bookbags. We also had 7 hairstylists volunteer and provide free haircuts for the boys and girls! This was a beautiful day of giving back to the community and it was made possible by our community of volunteers, donors, supporters, and local businesses. THANK YOU!!

~Amia Robinson, UWOC Community Engagement Manager

A BIG THANK YOU to all the event sponsors!