Celebrating the New Year is never easy, but party planning takes on a whole new meaning when you’re hosting for the better half of one of the largest metropolitan cities in the country. On January 3rd, a group of west metro Atlanta volunteers learned that lesson two dozen boxes of canned supplied goods deep into P.O.W.E.R. Inc.’s inaugural New Year’s Welfare Bank.
The late winter is no stranger to charity work, and 2025’s particularly bitey weather was just another sign that unilateral action was necessary to keep Atlanta safe, warm, and provided for. The handful of APS volunteers who joined P.O.W.E.R. Inc. agreed that it was 100% worth the time (and extra layers). “It was so surreal, being surrounded by a whirlwind of activity in like, such a remote area,” said NAHS freshman volunteer Avani Johnson, “but despite all the noise and cold, it felt very safe. Very homey. Kind of like a family get-together.”
And a get-together it proved to be! The “P.O.W.E.R. New Year’s Welfare Bank” was a debut sensation, and was aptly recognized by the City of Atlanta for its tremendous impact while serving as a crutch for lower-income communities in greater Atlanta. Hosted and arranged by P.O.W.E.R. Inc. (a local nonprofit dedicated to aiding the under-resourced) the bank was managed as a circuit event- an opportunity to supply gifts and lift the spirits of those in need over the course of 48 consecutive hours. “We normally only distribute small gift bags and provision boxes during the holidays, mostly because we just don’t have the manpower,” P.O.W.E.R. Inc. executive Adrienna Gates said, “but this year we almost tripled our volunteer load and gave out over 600 amenity packages, thanks to the gracious participation of our students.”
The students in question understood that the numbers only worked in their favor. The event had effectively reserved an entire block of downtown and littered it with kiosks that catered anywhere from basic needs (canned goods, clothing, forms for job references) to good-tiding offerings, like small toys for the younger kids. “It was weird at first, being independent from the adults that actually knew what they were doing,” said B.E.S.T. Academy sophomore Tyler Bowens, “and I could tell everyone else around me felt the same way. But we were doing good out there… that was important to us.”
What started as a small hum gradually carried on to become a full-on chorus, with crowds of people lined up behind and around each stall. Sooner rather than later, the block was stacked with flowing conversations and laughter- becoming the closest thing to a street party that wasn’t exactly a street party. So on January 3rd, among the dozens of families excitedly unwrapping their gift boxes, crowds of volunteers taking selfies with each other, and the warm buzz of energy keeping the community safely quilt together, a message was very effectively sent: it truly takes a village.
