‘We Are a Village’: RECH Foundation Hosts Annual Toy Drive for Children With Incarcerated Parents

by Shaunicy MuhammadDecember 24, 2024

RECH Foundation Co-Founder Pauline Rogers poses for a photo with Jackson mayoral hopeful Tim Henderson at the organization’s annual toy drive for children with incarcerated parents held Sunday. Rogers and her husband, Frederick, started the organization in 1987. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad

A smile graced Tonya Fortner’s face as her son Atlas marveled at the bag of toys he’d just received.

The pair recently moved to Jackson after Fortner gained custody of her son, whose father is incarcerated. “I’m from the coast, but I had to come here to change my life,” she told the Mississippi Free Press on Dec. 22.

That morning, Fortner joined several other parents and caregivers lined up outside the New Hope Baptist Church on Watkins Drive in Jackson for the RECH Foundation’s 38th annual toy drive for children with incarcerated parents.

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