Man donates $13K to school
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on February 12, 2017 1:45 AM
A LaGrange man has donated $13,000 to Edgewood Community Developmental School, which the school plans to use for a variety of functions, according to principal Tasha Adams.
The donation was confirmed at January's Wayne County Board of Education meeting. Although the donor was not named at that meeting, Ms. Adams said Randy Gray of LaGrange was the donor.
"He did a fall ball, he does this just about every year," she said. "He and some friends raised money and donated it to the school."
The ball, held at Gray's farm store, featured live music and cooking contests. Gray and his friends sell tickets to the ball every year to raise money for Edgewood.
Gray, whose two children attended Edgewood years ago, said he originally came up with the idea about 10 years ago.
"I saw a need, a lot of teachers were having to pull money out of their own pockets to supply their classrooms," he said. "To start with I was just asking for donations, but I wasn't getting the kind of donations I wanted, so we started making tickets."
Gray said around 700 people attended this year's ball, which was less than usual due in part to Hurricane Matthew. In previous years, he said, there have been around 1,000 guests at the ball.
"In 2014, we donated $15,000, and in 2013, I think it was around $15,000 as well," he said.
Gray said that the residents of Wayne County are fortunate to have access to a school like Edgewood.
"I just think Edgewood is a very special school, and Wayne County is blessed to have that kind of school," he said.
Adams said the funds will be put to use in multiple ways, from providing extra effort awards for students to purchasing technology equipment and other resources for teachers.
For Gray, the ball is simply a way to send help where help is needed.
"We saw a need, and we just wanted to help out," he said. "My hope is that people see this and think, if this redneck farmer out here can do some good, maybe I can do some good too."