Schools help needy families as poverty rates rise

Blake Canterbury stood on a stage the size of the Fox Theatre on a recent evening before perhaps thousands of Buckhead Church members and guests, ready to make his pitch.

Canterbury explained how, Purposity, the website he created works and how they can help.

People buy items on Amazon.com for needy families with children in a select school. The items are shipped to the school, and teachers deliver them to families. Canterbury, at the request of Forsyth County’s school system, started Purposity more than a year ago. He’s hoping to expand it to other school districts, like Atlanta.

“Purposity finds those in need,” said Canterbury, 32, a web developer, causually dressed in a button-down shirt and black jeans.

Several attendees whipped out their smartphones and began looking for information about the website.

Across metro Atlanta, more schools and students are creating their own ways to help classmates and families who need food, clothes or basic needs like a bed.

Jack Griffin, 18, for example, created a website in 2014 as a student at Gwinnett County's Peachtree Ridge High School that helps people find nearby food banks. The website, FoodFinder, had about 2,000 unique visitors in its first year. It now has an app.

To read more about what's being done to help, click here.