Looking back on his childhood in Cleveland’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Damon Anderson remembers plenty of good times, he said, but he also remembers what it was like when money got tight. 

Now, a couple decades later, those experiences inspired Anderson to organize a back-to-school giveaway for the kids in Mount Pleasant. This past Sunday, he laid out free school supplies, toiletries, shoes, snacks and toys on tables in the parking lot of a Sunoco gas station on the corner of Kinsman Road and E. 146th Street. There were free haircuts, inflatables and arts and crafts, too. 

“I just know what it’s like to go without,” he said. “It can get rough, and I know what it’s like to not have anything. I’m just out here trying to give somebody something, even if it’s just a smile for the day.”

There was a huge rush right after the giveaway started, Anderson said. Most of the toiletries and shoes were gone within the first hour.  

Anderson chose the Sunoco parking lot for the festival because he wanted it to be easy for residents of the neighborhood to get to, he said. These kinds of back-to-school giveaways are usually hosted at churches and rec centers, he said, but “nobody ever really does anything right here in the neighborhood, on the streets.” 

Anderson is known to many as “Coach Dame” because he leads youth sports at Cleveland’s Frederick Douglass Recreation Center. He’s gearing up for the flag football season now, then he’ll move on to volleyball and basketball after that. 

Both in his job at the rec center and in organizing events like this festival, he aims to help children “find your lane,” he said.

“I’m not rich financially, but I’m rich in happiness,” Anderson said. “I take that over anything. It’s good to smile, especially with all I’ve been through. And I know it’s people out there going through it like me. Find your way and just keep going.”