Constructing Up Atlanta’s Youth, One Backpack at a Time

The Issa Again To College Drive is greater than a charitable giveaway—it’s a community-powered occasion designed to uplift college students each bodily and mentally as they put together to enter a brand new educational 12 months.

The annual drive displays 21 Savage’s private journey. Born in London however raised in Decatur, he skilled firsthand the challenges that many underserved households face. By returning annually to assist kids from the identical neighborhoods that helped elevate him, he’s giving again in a means that’s rooted in authenticity.

What Households Can Count on on August 3

This 12 months’s occasion guarantees a variety of important providers and items. Every little thing is free, and no registration is required. Right here’s what attendees can anticipate:

• Backpacks crammed with college provides similar to notebooks, folders, pencils, pens, and calculators
• Model-new sneakers for college students of all ages
• Free haircuts for boys and free braiding providers for ladies
• Meals and refreshments, with meals vehicles and volunteers providing sizzling meals, snacks, and drinks
• Interactive stations, together with video games, giveaways, and leisure for youthful kids
• Group sources, similar to info on monetary literacy, native packages, and well being providers

Households usually start lining up hours earlier than the occasion begins. The vitality is festive, with music, dancing, and a shared sense of pleasure and appreciation.

A Rising Legacy of Giving Again

Because the first Issa Again To College Drive practically a decade in the past, the occasion has grown steadily annually in scope and impression. Lately, attendance has soared to a number of thousand college students and fogeys.

Every annual occasion offers not solely materials assist however emotional and motivational encouragement. In 2024, the county formally acknowledged 21 Savage’s contributions by declaring August 4 as “21 Savage Main By Instance Day.” This proclamation solidified the drive’s significance throughout the neighborhood and highlighted the artist’s sustained involvement in civic service.

Supporting Extra Than the First Day of College

Whereas college provides and haircuts are key elements, the Issa Again To College Drive has all the time aimed to supply extra than simply the fundamentals. A serious aim is to empower youth past the classroom, with a robust concentrate on monetary literacy and lifelong studying.

By means of the Main By Instance Basis, 21 Savage launched a number of initiatives aimed toward constructing monetary confidence amongst younger folks, particularly these from underserved communities.

In 2025, the inspiration launched the Financial institution Account Monetary Literacy Week in partnership with native colleges. This system included hands-on workshops the place college students discovered about budgeting, financial savings, credit score, and open and handle a checking account. These classes are designed to organize college students for real-world monetary challenges they’ll face in maturity.

Evergreen Ideas for Mother and father and College students

To assist households prolong the teachings from the occasion into on a regular basis life, listed below are a number of evergreen ideas that oldsters and caregivers can use to encourage instructional success and monetary wellness year-round:

1. Discuss Overtly About Cash

Begin age-appropriate conversations about spending, saving, and budgeting. Train children to grasp the worth of a greenback early.

2. Create a Mini Funds Collectively

Work along with your baby to create a primary price range utilizing allowance or reward cash. This helps develop duty and prioritization.

3. Set up Monetary Objectives

Assist children set short-term objectives like saving for a toy or long-term objectives like a faculty journey. This teaches endurance and planning.

4. Use On a regular basis Actions as Classes

Journeys to the grocery retailer or paying payments on-line can grow to be studying moments about comparability buying, value checking, or invoice administration.

5. Construct a Homework Routine

Set a constant time and area for homework every day. Consistency helps focus and educational progress.

These small habits, when practiced constantly, can assist kids develop into financially accountable and goal-oriented adults.

Consistency Builds Group Belief

What units the Issa Again To College Drive aside is its consistency and community-first method. Slightly than a one-off publicity occasion, the drive is a part of a long-term technique to elevate the lives of Atlanta youth.

Mother and father know they’ll depend on this annual occasion. College students develop up attending it 12 months after 12 months. The occasion turns into a part of their story—a constructive affiliation with the beginning of the varsity 12 months.

Volunteers additionally play an enormous position in creating this expertise. Many are native lecturers, enterprise house owners, barbers, stylists, and even former college students who as soon as benefited from the drive. This full-circle impact creates a stronger, extra interconnected neighborhood.

The Energy of Native Management and Lengthy-Time period Imaginative and prescient

Whereas celebrities usually give again to causes throughout the globe, 21 Savage has remained laser-focused on the place that raised him. He doesn’t simply donate funds; he exhibits up in particular person, speaks with households, and listens to the wants of his neighborhood.

This sort of grounded philanthropy sends a message to children: “You matter, and also you’re not forgotten.” It additionally evokes different artists, leaders, and on a regular basis folks to get entangled and provides again in their very own methods.

From college provides to voter registration cubicles and monetary toolkits, the Issa Again To College Drive represents a holistic funding sooner or later.

Lasting Impression: Why This Occasion Issues 12 months After 12 months

The back-to-school season may be financially aggravating for a lot of households. The prices of backpacks, sneakers, clothes, and provides add up shortly—particularly for households with a number of kids.

21 Savage’s occasion instantly relieves that burden. However extra importantly, it offers hope. It exhibits younger those who success doesn’t have to return at the price of forgetting your roots. It reminds households that the neighborhood is stronger when it stands collectively.

In a world that always focuses on headlines and hype, this occasion delivers substance. Its real-world impression is measurable not solely within the variety of backpacks handed out, however within the sense of dignity, pleasure, and optimism it instills.

As Atlanta households gear up for the varsity 12 months, 21 Savage’s Issa Again To College Drive is greater than an occasion—it’s a motion. With a mission grounded in training, monetary literacy, and native love, this initiative continues to form futures and strengthen communities.

Whether or not you’re a dad or mum looking for college provides, a teen searching for inspiration, or a neighborhood member prepared to provide again, the drive provides one thing for everybody.

And so long as 21 Savage continues to guide by instance, Atlanta’s youth will know they’ve somebody of their nook—each August, and each step of the best way.