Ashley Brittain, a member of First Baptist Church in Jackson, has been serving teachers and students through Heart4Schools, an SCBaptist ministry. Brittan’s passion for middle school students began during her time as a school nurse at Jackson Middle School. She noticed that the students had a lot of needs, but the school district didn’t have enough budget for their health and social needs.

“As a school nurse, I got $36 to stock my health through to take care of those kids. So I found that several months I was spending more than I was making as a school nurse to take care of these kids,” said Brittain.

When her church decided to partner with the local middle school, Brittain knew where they could serve. She suggested that they create a care closet for the middle school students to help the school nurse with the basic needs of the students.

“We need to serve the school nurse. We need to help her because she’s the one that’s going to meet those basic needs of those kids more times than not,” Brittain explained.

The care closet is stocked with supplies such as deodorant, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, hairbrushes, hair ties, feminine products, body wipes, and more. Each Sunday school class in the church is charged with bringing in a certain supply to donate to the care closet.

“Our middle school got a new principal. She came in very excited about our partnership with their school. So we’ve been able to get into the school and do several things for the teachers, for the students,” said Brittain.

The care closet has been a great success and has helped the school nurse with the resources she needs to serve the students. Brittain and her church have been able to take care of some of the basic needs that the students require at that age.

“Our church has really sponsored this. And it’s a way we can, we can take care of some of those basic needs that those kids need at that age,” Brittain said.

Through Heart4Schools, Brittain and her church have been able to make a significant impact on the lives of middle school students in their community. Their efforts have shown that a little help can go a long way in making a difference in the lives of students who need it the most.

Our desire is to connect every school in South Carolina with a church that loves and serves them well. To learn more, visit www.scbaptist.org/heart4schools.