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As a music teacher who splits time between Henrico’s Glen Lea and Ward elementary schools, Zynora Manson has seen plenty in her nearly four decades of teaching. But while working bus duty one blustery winter day last year, she was shocked by something she witnessed.
“Kids were coming to school in the winter with no socks on,” she recalled. “No socks! And they didn’t have hats – no gloves.”
Manson, who is also the associate minister of Seven Pines Baptist Church and the vice president of the Henrico Ministers Conference, wanted to change that.
So this year, she helped organize a winter clothing drive through the HMC, aimed at providing those much-needed winter hats, gloves and socks for students at Glen Lea, Laburnum and Ratcliffe elementaries.
The results, you might say, were heartwarming.
The organization (composed of more than 30 churches, primarily Baptist, throughout the county) collected more than 1,100 new hats, gloves and socks, as well as several coats. Participating churches included Seven Pines Baptist, Anointed New Life Baptist, Mt. Olive Baptist (Glen Allen), Bethany Baptist, Quioccasin Baptist and Destined for Glory Ministries.
Church volunteers gathered in late October to sort and pack all the items. Then last week, Manson and HMC President Duane Hardy (the pastor of Seven Pines Baptist) delivered the items to the three schools, surprising the family advocates at each location, who will distribute them to children in need.
The donations are expected to help several hundred children in total; some may need all items, while others may need just one, Manson said.
“We were really excited about it,” she said of the effort. “We wanted to show community that the clergy does care about the total child, and part of that caring is to meet their physical needs.
“We just want to let them know we love them, we want success for them, we care about them, and part of caring is demonstrating it, showing it – not just to children, but the principals. They were really, really grateful.”
It was the second time this year that the HMC had made significant donations to Eastern Henrico schools; in the spring, the group collected and donated more than 1,300 books to Glen Lea, Montrose and Ratcliffe. The schools were selected then because they were the only three elementary schools in Henrico not to earn accreditation.
Though the HMC has existed since 1960, it wasn’t always as proactive in the community as Hardy and Manson believe it should be. Under their leadership, that’s changing.
“A lot of our ministers in particular are employees and work in Henrico County Public Schools,” Hardy said. “We tend to address or like to address needs right there in the community.
Members of the organization are planning a prayer breakfast next year to bring civic and servant leaders together – including government and school system officials – and another event to honor military veterans. Members also are planning to host a youth and young adult conference in the spring and will be collecting basic toiletries to donate to those in need as part of that event.
“What I see us doing is outreach and community service,” Hardy said. “My goal is just to serve, just to walk alongside our public servants – police, teachers – just to let them know that we appreciate them, one, and two, to support them the best way we can.”
