08/27/2026
As we head back to school this week, we want to share the magic & impact of our back-to-school event and hope to keep empowering our students to do their best.
The Wilson Gray Y became a place where over 1,400 people came together, were welcomed, celebrated, and reminded that they MATTER.
After five months of planning, preparing, collecting donations, securing sponsors, and bringing our community together, we watched the mission of the Y come alive in a BIG way.
✨ 520 backpacks filled with school supplies were given out to elementary, middle and high school scholars
🚲 8 bikes given to local youth
📚 Hundreds of free books given out to inspire young readers
🥫 200 bags of food from Whole Foods Market given out to families
🧼 150 hygiene bags from Dignity Grows
👕 Racks and racks of children's clothing
🍔 And a cookout where no one went without a meal from hotdogs & hamburgers to mac & cheese and fried chicken bites from Soulbowls
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Because it was not all about backpacks, bikes, books, or food.
It was about people.
It was about someone walking through our doors and feeling seen, heard, valued, and celebrated.
And that impact doesn't end when the event ends.
Years from now, those backpacks may be worn out. Those books may have been read a hundred times and passed on to another child. Those bikes may eventually be outgrown.
But we hope the feeling lasts this school year and forever.
The feeling of knowing there was a place where people showed up for you.
Where you found a village.
Where you were given a hand up, not a handout.
That is the power of community.
That is the power of the Wilson Gray YMCA.
And that is what happens when people come together with a shared belief that every child, every family, and every person deserves to feel that they belong to something greater.
To every sponsor, donor, volunteer, staff member, community partner, and person who showed up and gave their time, resources, energy, or heart:
YOU made this possible. THANK YOU.
