The Victory Train, an early childhood education nonprofit based in Greene County, has partnered with Walker United Methodist Church to expand its outreach and volunteer efforts.
As part of the partnership, the nonprofit has relocated its Packet Assembly Community (PAC) Days to Walker United Methodist Church, where volunteers assemble educational packets for children across Greene County. Victory Train had operated the assembly program at Lakeside Church on Lake Oconee Parkway for the past seven years.
According to a recent press release, Lakeside Church will continue supporting the organization by providing administrative assistance and financial stewardship. Victory Train President Theresa Kemp described the partnership as an expansion of the nonprofit's community-wide efforts rather than simply a location change.
"From the very beginning, Victory Train has been made possible by our church partners, volunteers, businesses, schools, and families working together," Kemp said. "Every church partner that opens its doors to us becomes part of helping Greene County children build a stronger future."
Kemp said Victory Train produces about 1,100 educational packets each month for children from birth through kindergarten. The packets are delivered every three weeks. She said the move was prompted in part by Lakeside Church's need for the space and Victory Train's need for a larger facility to support its growing operation.
"We will now produce those packets at Walker United Methodist Church, and then we'll deliver them to the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, which is where our 'delivery angels' pick them up," Kemp said. "So, basically, now we partner with six or seven different churches to help us be able to run the Victory Train."
Producing the monthly packets requires several days of work and volunteer help throughout the month.
"To produce 1,100 packets, it takes us several days a month to get those ready and prepared," Kemp said. "We invite volunteers to come out, and it's usually about seven or eight days a month that we run our pack days."
Kemp said the additional space will help Victory Train serve more children throughout Greene County.
"This will allow us to continue to expand our program because we want hundreds and hundreds of children on the Victory Train so that we can break poverty for a single generation, for every child in the community who needs help," Kemp said. "We don't want to turn children away. If a child is two or three years old and we say, 'We have a wait list, come back in a year,' they've lost a critical year of their education."
Kemp described the partnership with Walker United Methodist Church as "a new adventure" while emphasizing that Victory Train's mission remains unchanged.
"By partnering with Walker Church, we're now able to continue to broaden and expand our family headcounts, expanding our program and expanding our reach in the community," Kemp said. "It's been nice joining forces, where we can meet the church members, and they can meet us."