LAFAYETTE, La. (KATC) — A back to school bash geared toward supporting the children of incarcerated parents is happening at the Robicheaux Recreation Center on Eraste Landry Road on Saturday, July 11.
The event is free to attend and hosted by Little Lambs Outreach, a ministry to the children of the incarcerated in Louisiana since 1995. This year's back to school bash will feature games, pizza, a reptile show, door prizes, a school supply giveaway, a DJ, and performances from The TMM, or The True Mission Matters Project. Registration is required ahead of time and only families of children of the incarcerated can attend. Parents or guardians of eligible children can contact Kristie Monson of Little Lambs Outreach for more information by phone at 337-288-1744.
KATC sat down with Monson and Terrance Morgan of The TMM Project to learn more about the importance of an event like this.
"We do performing arts and education, we do it all throughout the state of Louisiana and beyond," Morgan said. "You'll see a lot of dancing, you'll see some live instruments — we have a saxophonist and a percussionist — we just engage with kids in a positive way through the arts. Any way you can give back to the community in a positive way, it's going to be a great impact."
"Just recently, we had a mother who said she hadn't seen her children smile until they came to a Little Lambs party," Monson said. "Recently we had a Little Lambs kid actually tell us that when their dad went to prison, most people looked at them in a way that made them sad, so when they come here, we tell them they're loved, they're valued, they're worth it and they can make it."
Monson noted that the overall hope of the event is to bring these families a sense of community, but also to remind kids to stay in school and make better choices.
"You do not have to be a statistic because 70% of children who have a parent incarcerated here in the state of Louisiana, they say, will go to prison themselves," she told KATC. "So we started Little Lambs to change that statistic and let them know they don't have to end up like mom or dad."