By Ryan Lewis
Correspondent
SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — What started as a easy plan in 1999 to help a few parents working long hours at a carpet mill quickly turned into program that some young people could not get by without.
Back then, Lorraine Powers knew some fellow church members whose six children had nowhere to go after school. She started a tutoring program for them at the Brakebill Chapel AME Zion Church with three other adult volunteers.
By the end of the first week, Ms. Powers and her companions were swamped with nearly 30 children ranging from 6 to 14 years old.
“I almost had a heart attack,” she said. “Those first few children went back to school and told everybody. Of course, a lot of kids came, and we went ahead and did whatever we could to help them.”
Since then, the nonprofit program — Educating Youth Ensures Success or EYES — has become much more than a tutoring program.
“We study music, manners, Shakespeare, opera, foreign languages, and so much more,” said Ms. Powers, who was recently recognized for her efforts with the Governor’s Volunteer Star Award. “It wasn’t supposed to be that, but once we saw the need, the need had to be filled.”
The EYES program tries to fill their stomachs, too.
“Sometimes it’s just a snack,” she said. “But when it’s been cold, we’ve had soups, chili, spaghetti, and all of that kind of stuff. We feed them every day.”
Fourth-grader Megan Harris said there’s no goofing off allowed and her grades have gone up at school because of it. She said she hopes to be an EYES volunteer when she gets older.
“We might be small right now,” she said, “but it will get bigger if we keep trying to help each other. I hope more and more kids will come because I want to meet them and help them, too.”
Funding for EYES comes through people in the community, and Ms. Powers said there’s never been a day that the program didn’t have food for the kids.
“The community has been good to us,” she said, noting that she often finds donations in the mailbox.
The organization’s volunteers are still made up of a core group of about four adults, but other helpers come by all the time.
Cierra Moore, another fourth grader, hopes the program will continue for a long time.
“They teach me something new here every day,” she said. “They’re always really nice and help me a lot with school.”
Her sister, fourth-grader Ariel Moore, said she loves attending the EYES summer camp.
“We get to learn so much about everything,” she said. “We learn, but it’s really fun, too. That’s what I love so much about coming here. It’s fun to learn.”
Ms. Powers said it’s the children that keep her and the other volunteers going.
“I’ve seen some of our children go off to college. We’ve had some that have dropped out, too,” she said. “There’s been progress, though. If we can get them when they first get in school and let them stay here, the teachers see such an improvement in them, and we have a much better chance at success.”
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.