Members of the Five Percent Nation came together in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park on Aug. 30 to hand out backpacks for neighborhood children as school gets underway.
Organizers said they arrived at the park around midday with about 150 backpacks and book supplies and planned to stay until every bag was given out.
The organization’s annual giveaway, held on the last Sunday in August, has been held for 20 years, said Divine Justice, who helped organize the event. “We’re giving out free book supplies and free book bags to children in the community. And we do this every August.”
Five Percent Nation members paid for the backpacks themselves, Justice said, due to the high cost of backpacks and school supplies, which can quickly put a dent in any normal household budget.
“So, I went out of my way, me and a few brothers, good brothers, and we donated to the cause, and we said, ‘You know what? By August, we’re going to give out at least 100 to 200 bags.’”
The giveaway was part of a summer schedule of service events, Justice said, because Five Percenters also help neighborhood children with food, activities, and educational assistance. “We basically do June, July, and August; we usually give out scholarships, and we help give out free book supplies, free food, free events, free activities, and we just donate to let the kids know that we are here for them.”
In July, the group sponsors a Children’s Day at Fort Greene Park: an event featuring food grills, banners, balloons, and a scholarship fund for young people entering school or college.
Justice said the backpack drive is an organized response to the financial pressures local families are facing. A former juvenile detention counselor, Justice now works as a fatherhood specialist with the family services organization, Forestdale.
“A lot of families are struggling,” he explained: “They’re going through financial hardship. And because we know that we do this –– because we know the community can’t afford it.”
