Cartersville Youth Steps Up, Helps Out

It was a stressful time last week for . After the devastating storms of Wednesday night that caused widespread damage and power outages, county schools were forced to shut down Thursday and Friday.

Classes were back in session on Monday, but many students have been hard at work since Thursday regardless of the impromptu break from school.

A great many of the tornado relief effort volunteers have been school-aged children and teens who stepped up to participate in food and clothing drives across the county.

“We had so many teenagers and children from Excel and other schools from all over the county show up to help,” said a Cartersville Cares co-founder and volunteer. “The kids showed up not knowing what they would be asked to do, they just knew they wanted to help.”

Excel Christian Academy kept regular school hours Thursday and Friday and played host to Cartersville Cares’ clothing drive, supplying clothing and hygiene products to storm victims both in Cartersville and Adairsville.

“We were really blessed with a great group of teenagers who actually helped make the experience a lot of fun. At Excel alone the teenage volunteers helped unload and sort two trailers full of donated clothing,” the volunteer said. “It was amazing. Many of them showed up again and again to help in the kitchen. I was very proud of all of them.”

The county and Stars Pre-K also volunteered its gym to be a donation site for food and clothing, and by Sunday afternoon, had collected thousands of individual donations from all across the community.

Stars will continue to be a donation point for as long as it’s needed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Volunteers will be welcome and greatly appreciated throughout the operation.

Cartersville High School continues on in the theme of hope and community fellowship, by hosting a portion of this year’s National Day of Prayer. The annual gathering will celebrate the evening part of the event at the Cartersville High School Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Hundreds, and potentially thousands, will gather to pray for the country, the city of Cartersville, Bartow County and the residents. The theme of this year’s event is “I am Second.”

“What better way to reunite after the storm than to get together and pray for our community?” said Cartersville resident Francie Brown. “We’ve seen the power of prayer through the church leaders who gather each week to pray for our town, now it’s our turn to step up and shower our community in prayer.”

Cartersville High’s Stadium is located at 320 E. Church Street, Cartersville, GA 30120. Contact Sara Raquel Ramos at 770-382-9489 for more information.