WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A Winston-Salem teen has done her part to help make sure students start the school year on the right foot.
Seventeen-year-old Kyndall Williams founded The Kyndall Project with the help of her mother April Reich when she was just seven years old. Since 2015, her nonprofit has donated more than 7,500 bookbags filled with school supplies to Triad area children. Kyndall and her mother donated more bags at their 8th Annual Back-to-School Jam Saturday.
"It’s better to give than receive and people in our community need assistance for school because they can’t afford it at this time," Kyndall said.
Kyndall will start her senior year of high school in just a few weeks. Her mother said Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines will soon declare August 12th “Kyndall Project Day.” This is to ensure the nonprofit continues to serve the community after Kyndall graduates high school and goes off to college.
"It fills my heart that she wanted to do this at a young age and came to me with this vision at the age of seven," Reich said. "You know a lot of kids don’t think about that at seven giving to others. I always just instilled in her just the value of giving back to others because you just never know when you might be in that situation."
The Kyndall Project gave away more than 500 backpacks. The Back-to-School Jam will be at Rupert Bell Park in Winston-Salem.