Thursday, June 13, 2013

Blessings In a Backpack

                I really like charities that provide opportunities for all people to get involved, no matter what their niche.  One such charity is Blessings in a Backpack which fills the nutritional void on the weekends for children who are on reduced or free lunches by sending the children home on Friday with a backpack filled with easy to prepare non-perishable food.  How can you get involved?
                If you are an organizational whiz, you can get things started by adopting a school in your area.  Then there are fundraising goals to be met in order to feed the children your program will be supporting and a partnership with a local grocer needs to be established.  Volunteers need to be gathered up as well.
                If you prefer to be a hands-on, in the trenches person, you can volunteer to transport food from the grocery store to the school.  You can also volunteer to pack the backpacks.
                If you are one who prefers to be on the sidelines and fund charities, you can write a check.  The cost for the program is approximately $80 per child per school year. 
                  Although, Blessings in a Backpack provides the backpacks used in your program, there is always a need for more backpacks.  This provides a great opportunity for a smaller community that wants to help, but does not have the capability to support a school on its own.

                So, whatever your preference is when you work with a charity, you can most likely find a way to help with Blessings in a Backpack.  For more information, please visit their website at blessingsinabackpack.org.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Arts and Crafts

                One day, I was talking to my daughter’s kindergarten teacher about Bernie’s Book Bank.  She told me that I would be amazed at how many children don’t have books at home.  She also commented on the fact that some of her students have never held a pair of scissors before coming to her class.  I was surprised, as I recalled the many times that my daughter cut paper into little tiny pieces and that one of her favorite workbooks was the scissor skills book that I had purchased for her.  This got me thinking….

                When it comes to choosing between food and craft supplies, it’s a no brainer…food wins hands down.  But arts and crafts are important to feed the imagination.  What if someone made up craft boxes that included scissors (blunt tip of course), glue sticks and the other necessities of crafts, complete with a couple of project directions?  Something to ponder….