Graffiti 2 aims to 'revolutionize' the Bronx

Some school supplies were priced as low as a dime but, for some parents, paying any amount was a sacrifice. Tears streamed down the face of one young boy because his mom couldn't afford a pack of markers.

At Graffiti 2 Church's school supply sale in the Bronx's Mott Haven community, the first few people in line were regulars, waiting every year for the event before buying any supplies elsewhere.

The school supply sale was made possible during its first six years through donations from area churches and Graffiti Church in Manhattan, the parent church for Graffiti 2. But this year donations poured in from across the country as churches learned about Graffiti 2 and pastor Andrew Mann from LifeWay's "Big Apple Adventure" Vacation Bible School curriculum.



Graffiti 2 ministers to people in an area where more than half of the families with children under age 18 are below the poverty level -- the highest percentage of anywhere in New York City -- and one in six students will not graduate from high school. Mott Haven has the highest percentage in New York City of births to teenage mothers, and more than 1,000 violent felonies are committed there each year.

Although it is a hard place to live, Mott Haven is the right place for Mann because it's where God has called him. Mann is beginning his seventh year at Graffiti 2 in his mission to "revitalize, revive and revolutionize" the community. To read more, click here.