A new event called “Just Us” took place September 29 in Blackshear City Park. If you saw fire trucks and police cars in the park that afternoon, there was no emergency taking place, just a lot of fun and hopefully some learning and understanding.
Organizer Alle Lee is the special education teacher for Pierce County Middle School, but this is an initiative she has devised on her own. While a lot of the volunteers come from the middle school, faculty and students alike, the event is not specifically endorsed by the school system. Instead, Just Us is a homegrown expression of love and community aimed at bringing those with special needs and the wider public together in a way where both can share and learn.
The event did not lack for volunteers. Tim and Mandy Power of Powers Farm & Homestead set up a table to give out both bibles from the Gideons and a chance for kids to hold eggs and cuddle with baby chicks. Blackshear Police and Fire Departments were on hand to talk with kids and show them the vehicles that help them do their jobs. Workers from city hall passed out bags of popcorn. Pierce Middle School cafeteria workers and members of the school’s Junior Beta Club helped wherever they could, especially fluffing up a huge colorful parachute for kids to race around underneath. Ladies from The Lemonade Experience even came all the way from Jacksonville to provide free lemonade and cotton candy. In fact, the entire Just Us event was completely free, something that makes Lee very proud, saying, “No one made a penny.”
Lee notes that Pierce County is blessed to have so many wonderful events open to the public, trunk or treats, festivals, church events and more. “All those things are wonderful,” she says, “But they can be very hard for families with special needs, especially those that can become overstimulated.”
Just Us was seen as a way to create community events designed around the needs of disabled and neurodivergent kids. “We want to invite the community to spend time with us in a setting that in more conducive to special needs,” says Lee. “That way both sides can communicate and cohabitate with us as one big community.”
An educator for ten years, eight of them specifically in special ed, Lee has served in her current role at Pierce Middle for approximately four and a half years. Lee and her husband Joey have adopted four kids in addition to their three biological children. “At first we thought our calling was foster care,” Lee recalls,” But when this family group came to us, three of them were autistic, which shifted the focus more specifically to special ed.”
With that, Just Us was born. The organization’s purpose is, according to the woman who began it, “to help our non-disabled community to better engage with our disabled community.”
“Sometimes people hesitate to approach or interact with us, because they’re afraid it might be awkward. They worry they might not know what to say or how to help,” says Lee. “But the truth is, we’re already fully aware it might be awkward, but we all need the interaction. Approach us anyway. Little things can mean so much.”
Lee sees this first event as just one of what will become many. She already has more Just Us events planned for Pierce County Library, Offerman Baptist Church, and return trips to the city park. She also welcomes any and all community partners interested in volunteering and especially, providing a venue to host a Just Us event where special needs kids, parents and friends can gather to engage and learn from one another.
If you would like to volunteer or learn more about Just Us, please contact Alle Lee at 229-4163250.
