It’s Back to School time, and everywhere you look there are back to school sales on clothes and school supplies. Lots of us with children have already purchased all of the items on our lists. In our local schools, however, thousands of kids are not coming with everything they need each day. That’s why we’re stocked up and are ready to help out in variety of ways.
Snack Pantry– Not all elementary students have the resources to bring a snack every day. Our volunteers have stocked over 2,300 lbs of snacks to help ease the burden of teachers providing snacks to students without. BackPack Beginnings’ snack pantry is located in the Teacher Supply Warehouse, in partnership with Guilford Education Alliance.
Food Pantries– This fall, we will operate 25 food pantries in local schools. They are managed by school staff and are stocked with fresh food, canned and dry goods, proteins, fruits, vegetables, pastas and rice, breakfast foods, juices, and shelf stable milk.
Personal Care Pantry– New this year, we have established a personal care pantry at our office. Time and time again we hear teachers and social workers tell us that personal hygiene and clean clothing are major issues among the neediest children in our schools. This pantry will provide laundry detergent and personal hygiene items to students/schools.
Clothing Pantry– Many children in our schools are without proper clothing or school uniforms. Our clothing pantry is stocked with new and gently used clothing items such as pants, shorts, shirts, sweaters, coats, socks, shoes and school uniforms.
We know that in order to succeed children must have the proper nutrition and care. Our wish is for all of these children to have a great year and have everything they need to succeed!