For Mack Reed, his yearly Unity in the Community back-to-school drive is a way to get the Rand community together.
"It's a community thing now," he said. "We just have fun."
This is the eighth year that Reed has collected school supplies to distribute to kids in Rand during the Unity in the Community celebration. It isn't merely a back-to-school drive, Reed said, but an event in which everyone in Rand and the Charleston area can participate.
This year's Unity in the Community will take place today at the Rand Community Center from 3 to 7 p.m. On top of giving away backpacks loaded with school supplies, Reed plans to give away six bicycles and fire up two grills for a community cookout.
There will be plenty of entertainment in store for kids and parents in attendance. DJ Kenny Minor and Christian band The Spiritual Harmonizers will perform during Saturday's event. Kids can also play basketball and hang out with their peers. This is a way for kids to be kids before school starts up again in the coming weeks, Reed said.
As for backpacks and school supplies, Reed said he gives them out to any child who needs them. Should he come up short, he holds a drawing for the remaining items. This doesn't happen often, he said, and he usually has leftover school supplies to use in the following year's drive.
Reed is shaking up this year's event by drawing for six bicycles. He was inspired to give away bikes after buying one for a friend's foster child earlier this year. The child, Reed said, had voiced that the only thing he wanted was a bike. Reed said that giving the child a bike was a great feeling and something he hopes to replicate at Unity in the Community.
Most of the kids who attend Unity in the Community are from schools in the area like DuPont Middle, Malden Elementary and Belle Elementary, Reed said.
The majority of donations for the drive are from private donors and churches in Rand. Reed, an employee of the Embassy Suites hotel in Charleston, said his boss frequently throws in some support for the event. Throughout the years, individuals from West Virginia to Mississippi have donated to Reed's cause, as well.
Reed said he's always taking donations and that he'll accept anything from school supplies to food to cash.
The Rand backpack drive isn't the only community service activity for Reed. Since the historic June flood, he has established a clothing drive at Union Mission. Reed was inspired to get involved with the flood relief efforts after his own close call with the disastrous floods.
"It almost flooded where I live," he said. "It really makes you think a different way, because that could have been my house floating down the street."
The best part of Unity in the Community is getting to see friends and acquaintances you haven't seen for a while, Reed said. To him, Unity in the Community is similar to a family reunion.
But Reed also believes the event is an ideal time for new or less active members of the community to get out of their homes and meet their neighbors.
"Sometimes you don't know who your neighbor is," Reed said. "You gotta get the community closer together."
Reach Jared Casto at jared.casto@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4832 or follow @JaredCasto on Twitter.