Connections

Today we visited Sunflower County Freedom Project, an after school-tutoring program for students in middle and high school in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Sunflower County was one of the most desolate and underserved places I have been to. They talked about how they had to drive for an hour and a half to go to the movie theater and how funding had been cut for many of their extracurricular activities. This experience of talking to other students really affected everyone as we realized how much we had and how much we still had to do. I think that people had different reactions. I saw similarities between Mississippi and Baltimore, which also has the seventh poorest neighborhood in the United States. Also, millions of dollars to the city school system are being cut, denying children new renovations to outdated facilities and after school activities. I hope that many people realizing and making connections about the rampant poverty in this nation will make people want to do more in our own community to change policies and make a change that can be similar to the Sunflower County Freedom Project.

Carolyn Sacco, Baltimore City College

If you would like to donate to the project or another similar project in Baltimore the link is below:

http://donate.sunflowerfreedom.org

http://paulsplaceoutreach.org/get-involved/donate/