Shepherd's Hut Pastor Sam Mims, right, passes on school uniforms and apparel to J. L. Jones third grade teacher Tikina Johnson. The church is sponsoring the third grade class to help meet their academic needs. Courtesy Photo
Shepherd’s Hut Pastor Sam Mims, right, passes on school uniforms and apparel to J. L. Jones third grade teacher Tikina Johnson. The church is sponsoring the third grade class to help meet their academic needs. Courtesy Photo
Thanks to the sponsorship of Shepherd’s Hut in Minden, third grade students at J.L. Jones Elementary are reaping the benefits of a promise the church made to them.

Pastor Sam Mims delivered roughly $1,500 worth of school uniforms, belts, socks and underclothes to the school. Principal Dusty Rowland says their uniform closet was getting low, and thanks to the church filling the need, the closet is now full again.

“We really tried to think of what would benefit our kids this year and all of the teachers talked about how we’d given out a lot of uniforms to kids this year,” she said. “Our uniform closet had gotten extremely low and we’d given out more this year than we ever have in the past. I notice a difference in kids when they have a clean, new pair of fitting clothes. It makes a difference in their self-esteem.”

She says when a child comes to school in ill fitted or dirty clothes, they tend to be embarrassed. With new clothes, they are able to think about their school day instead of their clothing.

“We have some that come with holes in their clothes, too big, too little, and they’ve even noticed that those we’ve given uniforms to this year, they have a totally different attitude,” she said.
Mims says it was God’s will that prevailed the day he and his wife purchased the items because it just so happened all school uniforms went on clearance. He says they were able to buy $1,500 worth of items for roughly $859.

“The offering that day was about $2,400,” he said of his church. “I told them I was going to take a third of that and put it aside for that class. We happened to go to Walmart the day they were clearing out their school uniforms. We got a tremendous deal. That included everything except shoes, based on the list and sizes Mrs. Rowland gave us. We bought quantities more than she’d given us, but we did it anyway.”

Mims says the church has been helping students in different ways, but this school year, he and the church decided to adopt the third grade class at Jones and follow them all the way to graduation. The idea, he said, is to fulfill any academic need they may have through their school careers, whether it be a technological need or something as simple as providing new clothes for them to wear to school.

“We intend to help as best we can so the kids can get a break as best they can,” he said.