Community Corner
Purple Boxes to Aid Youth Tornado Victims
Once they are packed with school supplies, snacks and items for summer activities, they'll be given to children in Meriwether County affected by April's severe weather.
Two Powder Springs nonprofit organizations are teaming up with two area churches to provide special goody boxes for children in central Georgia who were affected by April’s deadly tornadoes.
More than 325 purple boxes were donated to Our Father's Hands Clothing for a Cause by Powder Springs resident Jan Murphy, who used to own The Purple Box bakery.
“These boxes have sat in my garage for two years, and I’m so glad they are now going to be used in making a difference in a child’s life,” Murphy said.
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The boxes will be filled by the churches with school supplies, snacks and items for summer activities. They will be delivered to elementary school children in Meriwether County, one of the hardest-hit areas in central Georgia.
The storms affected about 150 homes and destroyed roughly 60.
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“These schools serve 400 lunches to kids daily, and 89 percent of those are free and reduced lunch programs, so these kids were already economically disadvantaged,” said Linda Lipp, the executive director of Our Father's Hands. “It’s just fascinating to see how God works.”
Our Father's Hands is a store selling low-cost new and gently used clothing on New Macland Road in Powder Springs. Revenues are used to feed and minister to Atlanta’s homeless population. Clothing and home décor donations can be dropped off daily at the store.
Lipp receives all kinds of unusual items and said God always connects her to the right people who need the donations. This time it was 325 large purple boxes.
Lipp works closely with and , so she called them to see if there was a ministry or program that could use the boxes.