Hootie & the Blowfish are teaming up once again with the Charleston County School District to host the fifth annual Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup: Back to School Basics, a back to school program providing children with school supplies and other services necessary to be well-prepared to start the 2012/2013 school year.  The Roundup will assist 1,700 high-poverty elementary school students from eight Charleston, SC elementary schools: Chicora Elementary, Dunston Elementary, Burns Elementary, Mary Ford Elementary, Midland Park/Pinehurst Elementary, Sanders-Clyde Elementary, Oakland Elementary and Stono Park Elementary.
Hootie & the Blowfish, made up of Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, are one of the most successful music groups of all time selling over 25 million albums world-wide.  The band believes they have a responsibility to use their celebrity status to help improve the lives of those in need, especially children. This type of philanthropic spirit led the band to establishing Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup: Back to School Basics in 2007.
As the name implies, Hootie & the Blowfish’s Roundup gather together their friends in the community to provide essential services and back-to-school supplies for these 1,700 local students. The Roundup provides haircuts, dental exams, eye exams, backpacks, shoes, t-shirts, uniforms and basic school supplies. The Roundup has assisted over 4,000 students since its inception.
 
Hootie & the Blowfish is currently looking for partners for this year’s Roundup to make 2012 even better by providing more services and school supplies than ever! The Roundup is in need of the following:
-          Monetary donations to be used for the purchase of school supplies and in conjunction with the needs of Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup
-          Basic school supplies (pencils, rulers, paper, folders, spiral notebooks, composition notebooks, crayons, markers, scissors, erasers and glue sticks)
-          Any additional essential services that may be helpful to prepare kids for back to school. The recruitment of dentists, eye doctors and barbers has been completed.
-          Any additional items to be used for the benefit of the students.
 
Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup: Back to School Basics will be held Saturday, August 18, 2012 from 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM at Burke High School, located at 244 President Street in Charleston, SC. 
 
If you would like to support Hootie’s Homegrown Roundup: Back to School Basics, please contact Alexa Harnig at alexa@empiresportssc.com or 843.881.2532.