LeVelle Moton's backpack giveaway turned into drive-thru event amid COVID-19
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- LeVelle Moton's 11th annual backpack giveaway looks a lot different this year.
No bouncy house or face painting this year because of COVID-19. It's a back to school drive-thru.
"Despite the adversity and the circumstances and the crazy situations, they still need help, possibly now more than ever," said NCCU men's basketball coach, LeVelle Moton. "We've done it out the kindness of our hearts considering everything was on the up and up. With the pandemic, you have people being laid off of work, people struggling financially and socially. They need us to step up now more than ever so that's just what we tried to do."
"It's helping because a lot of families have been out of work since March and the students need something to write with," said parent, Chizoba Offor. "They are going to be online and they need their paper to write."
There was a line of cars stretching a mile long from the Boys and Girls Teen Center in Raleigh before the event even started and in about an hour all 900 plus backpacks were gone.
"I think when you do something, you have to do it with the purpose and the intent that you're trying to help so many people,"said Moton. "It's still those five or ten people that need help that probably don't have a voice to get to you. Just being able to touch one person at a time and spread love throughout the community that's been beneficial and supportive since we were kids it's phenomenal."
Not only were they handing out backpacks but also COVID-19 relief kits, voter registration and census reminders.
"It's extremely important now more than ever," Moton said. "We see the effects that politics are having on our community. We are seeing the racial injustice and somewhat of a divide. Everyone now is advocating to provoke change and I think it starts right here within the community and it starts by going to vote. We just wanted to make sure we reiterated that to the people and hopefully they will go out and do it."
Some of the video used in this story is from Sha'Quitta Brown with S&L Photography.
