This Is Van Buren

~Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.          Proverbs 19:17 CSB

Van Buren, Arkansas, population 23,367, with 22.9% of the population living in poverty.  There are currently 5,900 students enrolled in the Van Buren School District, of these students, 432 attend Tate Elementary.   These pictures were taken inside the attendance zone for Tate Elementary.  These are the houses that children in Van Buren are growing up in.  These are the conditions we, as a community, are allowing our children to grow up in. 

There are over 65 churches in our area and yet, we have a poverty epidemic.  We have children that come to school with clothes that do not fit, shoes with holes, no coats in the winter.  Children that come to school covered with scabies and reoccurring lice.  It is time that we as a community say “No More.”  We need to become the voice for these children.  We need to let these children know that someone believes in them.  There is someone who wants them to have a fair shot at life.  Someone that believes they are important and can be anything they want to be. 

Transforming the Map is teaming up with Shibley Baptist Church, Impact Church, and North Park Women’s Ministry to help these children be prepared for their first day of school.  August 11th we will be passing out school supplies, canned goods, and hot dogs to the parents and students of Tate Elementary, but we need your help.  We still need donations of school supplies and canned goods.  Any monetary donation made to Transforming the Map between now and August 10th will go to purchase school supplies and canned goods for these children and their families.  If you would like to donate canned goods and school supplies you can email transformingthemap@gmail.com and we can arrange a place and time to pick up your donation. 

These are our children.  These children are our future.  It is time that we take care of them.