An estimated 2,000 Paulding students will go to school Aug. 17 with supplies and physical screenings provided by churches, health care professionals, volunteers and community organizations.

Give A Kid A Chance volunteers will welcome families needing help in providing for school-age children at two sites from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 8: Hiram Elementary School and Paulding Meadows. Parents can call 770-222-2125, ext. 350, to register until July 31, although Family Alliance of Paulding Director Linda Verscharen says no one will be turned away. Parents can leave information when phoning in and will be called back with instructions on when and where to go.

Parents will be given age-appropriate school supplies for their children through grade 12, who can also receive free dental, vision, hearing, blood pressure and scoliosis screenings from health care professionals who are donating their time. Physicians will sign medical forms needed for school enrollment.

Give A Kid A Chance helped 470 students from financially distressed families last year, the national program’s first year in Paulding. Gary Davis, president of the nonprofit Alpha Team Outreach, approached Hiram Mayor Carmen Rollins about Give A Kid A Chance, and the mayor welcomed the program into her city. Response was so great that Give A Kid A Chance was expanded this year with a second site to serve the northern portion of the county, said Davis.

Grant Cole of Austell started Give A Kid A Chance about a dozen years ago, said Davis, who became involved by busing children from Marietta to Austell to receive school supplies. Trinity Chapel, the Powder Springs church he attended, began providing pre-school year assistance to children affiliated with the church, and Davis decided “to take a message of hope to the public; take the church to the community.”

This year, more than 40 local churches, many of which had similar programs individually, decided to unite with Family Alliance of Paulding, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, Engage Atlanta, CAYA Ministries and others to meet needs together, said Davis.

“We came together in one big community program,” he said. “Anybody who wants to volunteer is welcome.”

The churches last year helped about 1,200 children, he said; adding the 470 that Give A Kid A Chance aided, organizers expect more than 2,000 to seek help this year. “With the economy as stressful as it is, more parents will be in need this year,” Davis predicts. “It might be a stressful time for a family to get through, and this takes a financial burden off people.”

He said his faith motivates him to help provide this ministry.

“This is practical Christianity,” said Davis, who has ministered in churches more than 20 years. “We put a face on [Christianity] and love people; live it in front of them more than talk about it. Together, the churches are having a bigger impact as the body of Christ.”