Blessing Through the Back to School Blitz

By Lance Finley, CGGC Executive Director

Photo of Pastor Dave Odegard with backpacks, Photo by Kenton Times

Each summer for the past several years, on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon in August, the village of Wharton, OH is transformed from it’s normal quiet and sleepy existence into the “place to be” thanks to the Wharton Church of God (https://www.whartoncog.com) and their Back to School Blitz. Wharton is a village of approximately 400 residents located in Wyandot County, about 20 miles southeast of Findlay. The brothers and sisters at the Wharton Church of God are doing a tremendous job of loving their neighbors and serving their local community.

A typical Sunday afternoon drive through Wharton wouldn’t probably offer a lot to report on, but on the day of the Back to School Blitz, that’s a whole different story. The village blocks off one end of the main road with barricades and the local fire company parks a fire engine at the opposite end of the street in order to redirect traffic for the day. This quiet street is transformed into a carnival-like atmosphere with fun, food and lots of people enjoying the time together. At both ends of the street there are bounce houses full of energetic children playing and laughing. On one side of the street there are a number of booths with games, face painting and other activities for the kids. On the opposite side of the street there’s a dunk tank, a food station with hot dogs, beverages and cotton candy, as well as a DJ from a local Christian radio station playing music and serving as the emcee of the event.

Photo by Lindsay Ginter

In addition to all the fun and food, there are also hair stylists giving back-to-school haircuts to some of the kids. Inside the Dwelling Place, the congregation’s new fellowship hall that also serves as the community center for the village, there’s a station where kids and their parents can pick up a backpack filled with school supplies for the upcoming school year. This past year the church and their community partners were able to distribute nearly 400 backpacks filled with supplies. In addition, there’s typically a few prizes and give-aaway drawings that take place throughout the course of the afternoon.

For several hours this past August, over 1,200 people came through the Back to School Blitz. It’s an amazing event that the whole community has learned to look forward to each year. Pastor Dave Odegard and his wife Kathy, share that the idea for the Back to School Blitz originated at their former church in Montana a number of years ago. At their former congregation, a teacher in the church had the vision to start this kind of ministry and when the Odegards were called to serve at Wharton, they sensed that an effort like this would be a good way to connect with the local community. The church was willing to give it a try and the first Back to School Blitz was launched back in 2013. That first year they saw about 120 people attend the Blitz and they had about 40 individuals from the church serve at the event and distributed about 50 backpacks.

Photo by Lindsay Ginter

The event has certainly grown over the years, and it’s something that the Wharton Church of God would struggle to pull off on their own, but they’ve been blessed with a number of partners in the effort. This past year there were about 70 people who volunteered during the Blitz – it takes a lot of people to put on a quality event like this and the congregation provides a large number of the volunteers for the day. Congregation members man the dunk tank, provide supervision for the bounce houses, operate the various game and activity booths, work the registration table, distribute the backpacks filled with school supplies and prepare and serve a lot of great food. Pastor Dave relates that while the church provides most of the volunteer staff for the day, a number of other community members also help provide the manpower necessary for such an undertaking. A fellow pastor from a nearby community in the same school district, several teachers and staff as well as a few community members also volunteer during the course of the event. Pastor Dave also shares that the event has been a great tool in helping folks in the congregation grow in friendship and unity as they’ve worked alongside one another at the Blitz. They’ve even seen people come to Wharton Church of God because of the Blitz and their desire to be a part of a church that loves and serves the community well.

The Wharton Church of God is generous in putting together the Back to School Blitz, but they are grateful for a number of partners and supporters from the community. The congregation has typically funded the food, bounce house rentals, prizes and games which often amounts to an investment of over $1,000 each year. This past year, Wharton was blessed with a $5,000 matching grant from The Foundation of the Great Lakes Conference Churches of God, General Conference (https://www. foundationglc.org) that enabled them to invest in some new technology and equipment to support the ministry effort. Pastor Dave shares that the bulk of the school supplies that are distributed are funded through the generosity of the local community, both through individuals and local businesses who contribute $4,000 to $7,000 each year to help underwrite the cost of school supplies. Pastor Dave relates that “the community really invests in this event and how it impacts our local school.”

Photo by Lindsay Ginter

Wharton is a part of the Riverdale School District which serves 900 students from the communities of Wharton, Forest, Mt. Blanchard and the surrounding area. The school district as been a natural partner with the congregation as there are several current and former Riverdale teachers who are a part of the fellowship at the Wharton Church of God. The school district helps promote the event, sending home flyers to families to let parents know about the Blitz. Pastor Dave says that the Blitz has helped to enhance what was already a good relationship with the local school. This past year, one-third of the students in the local school also participated in the Back to School Blitz. The relationship with the schools goes well beyond just this one-day event as Pastor Dave shares that it’s not uncommon for the school to reach out to the church throughout the year with various needs or requests.

The church also partners with the school in identifying the class supply lists for each grade and utilizing those lists to prepare the backpacks each year. Families are asked to pre-register online for the Blitz which allows the church to coordinate the packing of the backpacks according to the various classroom supplies lists. There are students that attend the Blitz who go to other schools outside the Riverdale school district and the church tries to find those class lists online or prepares a backpack filled with a good estimate of the student’s classroom supply needs for the upcoming school year. Pastor Dave shares that one of their future dreams is to find a way to provide a voucher for shoes for the participants (most schools require two pairs of shoes—one for everyday wear and another for gym class).

Photo by Lindsay Ginter

Pastor Dave offered the following advice to other churches who might want to partner with their local schools in similar ways. “Don’t despise small beginnings. Set aside some money to commit to this kind of effort and be faithful with it for a few years. Know that it will take a lot of volunteers— but we’ve found that people feel really good about what our church is able to do to bless the kids of our community and they want to be involved in efforts like this.”

When asked about what they’ve learned over the years of partnering with their neighbors to put on the Back to School Blitz, Pastor Dave had several observations. “Our community, our neighbors are very generous, and they care about their school. Over the years, our church has earned some street cred with our community because we’ve cared about the school too. We’ve learned a lot about the needs of our community, particularly about the things that don’t necessarily show up on the surface. It has taken some time, but it’s been worth it.”