MACON, Ga. — The South Bibb Recreation Center had a back-to-school bash that featured sickle cell awareness on Saturday.
The Macon-Bibb Parks and Recreation Department and the Fire Department showed off some of their equipment to the kids.
Zamarion Johnson said he liked talking with the responders, and had newfound inspiration for doing well this school year.
"He gave me more information on how to be a chief. He said as long I get my grades up, I can be chief of police," Johnson said.
Keeping those grades up is a good reminder at the start of the new school year.
Lieutenant Tim Jones, with the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, says events like these help them stay engaged with the community.
"The past instances we've had in the last few years with social media and stuff, and some bad apples out there that hurt us, you know, our image. And it's really nice to know that there's some kids that when we engage with them, they see that we are good people and that we're doing a good job and that they want to do the job that we do one day when we retire. So that's very uplifting for me as an officer when I have a young person come up and say hey I like to do what you do," Jones said.
Kids also received school supplies, free haircuts, and other vendors were there to talk about their businesses.
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