Fundraising
If you don’t have a Blessings in a Backpack program in your area but still want to help, try some good old fashioned fundraising. Whether you are a Girl Scout/Boy scout troop, cheerleading or football team, local community club or church group, collecting funds or backpacks at your next event is easy and extremely valuable to the children in our program.
Hold A Backpack Drive
We need new or gently used backpacks! Blessings in a Backpack provides all new school programs with the backpacks kids need to carry their weekend supply of food home. Blessings in a Backpack is fortunate to have volunteers who donate backpacks, but we always need more to meet growing demand and to retire some of our ragged veteran backpacks. Backpack drives are a great opportunity for anybody and everybody to pitch in and do their part to feed hungry school children and improve their early academic growth.
Parents, Students and Teachers
Parents, students of all ages and teacher groups across the nation often ask, How Can We Help! Hold a backpack drive in your school. Since many people replace their backpacks on a yearly basis, we’re betting that there are many gently-used backpacks taking up closet space that people would be happy to donate. Extra credit, tickets to school events, and even get out of detention free cards can be used as incentives for people to donate their unused backpacks. Put on your thinking caps and come up with your own creative way to raise backpacks. All you need is permission from the principal and a few posters to get the ball rolling!
Other Community Supporters
If you’re not connected to a school, there are many other ways to help us raise backpacks. Please consider one of the following, or use your own method:
- Call sporting goods stores to see if they would like to donate backpacks they might have in stock or on clearance.
- Check with local companies who might have extra backpacks on hand from old employee incentive programs. Or ask them to start an incentive (i.e. “Jeans Day") for people who donate backpacks.
- Ask local retailers to offer discounts to people who bring in backpacks.
- Contact sponsors of widely-attended local events to see if they’ll offer free or discounted admission to people who donate backpacks.
- Have an event or party and ask attendees to bring backpacks as an entry fee. We often have donations from kind supporters who asked for backpacks in lieu of gifts at their birthday parties.
There are no wrong answers when it comes to helping us raise backpacks to feed kids, so no matter how you decide to raise backpacks – thank you!
Backpack Delivery
Please call 800-872-4366 to make arrangements to drop off or ship your backpacks. We often have locations near you for drop off. Occasionally shipping is required. We will help you decide on the best method for delivery. We also provide all backpack donors with an “in-kind donation letter” acknowledging your gift for tax purposes. Our mailing address is:
Blessings in a Backpack
1839 Brownsboro Rd.
Louisville, KY 40206
Angela's Backpack Drive - Inspiring Success
Angela McLean, a budding journalist and seventh-grade student in Toronto, Canada, has helped raise 188 backpacks for Blessings in a Backpack through several methods. She raised 100 at an event at her local mall, 54 from a drive she set up at her school, 5 by donating them herself, and 29 from a young Canadian actor named Austin MacDonald.
Angela, who wrote her first article for her local paper at age 8, is a talented and driven young lady. She became familiar with Blessings in a Backpack after seeing Hilary Duff and Stan Curtis speak at press conference opening Canada’s first Blessing in a Backpack program in 2009. Angela was so impressed by Hilary and her passion to help less fortunate children, she made it her mission to help. After the press conference, Angela attended a charity dinner where she heard Hilary speak of the need for more backpacks. Inspired, Angela quickly went to work organizing a backpack drive at her school.
Angela, with her mom at her side, approached her school’s principal and vice-principal who agreed to a September 2009 Backpack Raiser. She busily spread the word about the backpack drive by making posters and announcements, as well as providing details in the school newsletter. She was even able to leverage her media contacts to encourage donations.
We thank Angela for her hard work and dedication in supporting the Blessings in a Backpack program and encourage others to create their own way to raise backpacks!