Ortonville- Dereck, a single father of three, has clothes in layaway at Kmart in preparation for sending his children back to school next month.

He is behind schedule for getting the clothes out for the first day of school, Sept. 8, but expects he will somehow pull the money together in time, thanks in part to assistance he receives from the Ortonville Community Emergency Fund for other needed supplies. OCEF, a non-profit organization that hosts a food pantry for low-income families, is currently seeking help from the community in a back to school supply drive. The supplies will be distributed to children in need in the Brandon School District.

“The church helps me when school comes and the stuff their mother should help me with, they help me a lot,” said Dereck. “I have a special bond with that church, they know my situation and they look out for me. I want them to know I am very grateful to have them a part of me and my kids’ life.”

Dereck moved to Michigan from Georgia about 13 years ago to help his twin brother, who was residing in Pontiac and had been shot, stay out of trouble. Not long after he arrived, he met and married the mother of his oldest two children, who are now 11 and 10. They divorced and she moved out of state and he took full custody of their children. He then married the mother of his now-4-year-old child, but they split up.

“She was on medication too much and I didn’t approve,” explains Dereck, who said he will not marry again and jokes about there being something in the water in Michigan.

Now with sole custody and without any monetary or emotional support from their mothers, Dereck struggles to provide for and raise his children on his salary as a full-time pizzeria manager.

“I work to stay broke,” he says simply. “I’d rather stay broke and know all my bills are paid than bounce from house to house… Guys my age are buying rims and clothes for themselves, but I am investing in something.”

Dereck takes pride in that he bought his three-bedroom mobile home, but it is a stretch to make ends meet with lot rent and a car payment, insurance, and all the other bills. He depends on a neighbor to babysit his children while he is at work and wonders at what age he can leave his eldest two alone. Dereck was born in New Jersey and was in foster care before being adopted. He moved to Georgia when he was 10 and his family had a farm where they raised cows and pigs. He has no contact with his Georgia family now, and no family support in Michigan.

Sometimes he takes his children to work with him and he expresses gratitude for his employer.

“I gotta do what I gotta do,? said Dereck. “I work for an awesome guy, he looks out for me. If there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m just doing the best I can. I’ve never been evicted, I pay my bills on time, I’m just doing it.”

He has thought of getting another job, but he likes that he can walk to work if his car breaks down and said it would be difficult to get babysitters if he got another job. When asked about school, he said people have suggested he study culinary arts and he is invited to barbecues because of his cooking skills.

“I would love to go to school, but I’d rather be with my kids and watch them grow,” he said. “I’m all they have.”

He is glad he and his children have OCEF to help.

Karyn Milligan, OCEF food pantry director and St. Anne Christian Services coordinator, said Dereck’s children, as well as 233 others, will return to school this year with help from OCEF. She seeks the support of the community to make sure they have the supplies that are needed to be successful.

“It’s so expensive to get kids ready for school anymore,” said Milligan. “It’s not a matter of them having a couple pencils and eraser and notebook, so much is needed– certain kinds of binders and as technology moves forward, more and more things are required for these kids… We have to get them started on the best foot that we can as a community.”

Suggested donations to OCEF for the back to school drive include backpacks, composition notebooks, headphones for iPads, spiral notebooks, pocket folders, erasers, notebook paper, pencils, pens, 1- or 2-inch 3-ring binders, crayons (24 or 48 count only), colored pencils, Crayola markers and Twistables, skinny dry erase markers, highlighters, Post-it notes (3×3 and 3×5), glue sticks, pencil boxes, scissors, and rulers. Although distribution is early this year (the week of Aug. 9), supplies will be accepted up until the start of school on Sept. 8.

“I want to thank OCEF for everything they’ve done for me and the kids,” Dereck said. “It means a lot from the bottom of my heart.”

For more information on how you can help OCEF, call Karyn Milligan at 248-627-3965.