It seems to me that summer just flew by this year. Already not quite 2 months into it – and school starts back up in less than a month. The kids sure aren’t looking forward to going back, but Big Bro was excited to go shopping at Walmart for back to school supplies with me. I am participating in the Elmer’s Bag It Forward through Champions for Kids and like me, he thought it was a great idea to give back to our community.
What you may not realize is that many families face a huge burden this time of year, especially financially. All of those supplies and clothes add up and with the tough economy, some people simply can’t afford all of the stuff their kids need. Every year, I try to help my son’s school with supplies because I know how much it helps the families that otherwise couldn’t afford all of the important supplies for their child’s school year. These children are our kids’ peers and friends, so why not give even just a little.
If one child doesn’t have the correct supplies, it can disrupt the class while he/she is looking for something to borrow from a friend or teacher. Other kids may also tease the child for not having something. We all know how cruel kids can be to each other sometimes!
Armed with a $50 budget, Big Bro and I picked out a whole bunch of supplies while we were shopping for his brother’s supplies over the weekend. We did pretty well and got almost everything on Lil Man’s list plus an assortment of others that we donated. We only went $12 over budget, but that’s only because his supply list was quite extensive.
I divided the supplies into two piles after we got home. One pile for Lil Man and one for his school. His pile is in the photo below.
Next, I gathered all of the supplies for donation to his school. Big Bro and I chose some of the things that kids go through a lot of such as crayons, Elmer’s Glue Sticks, pencils, paper and folders. We also added some pens and Sharpie markers that were left over from Lil Man’s supplies. They had great prices on rulers and scissor two packs, so we grabbed a few of those too. By the time I bagged it all up, the bag was completely full!
I’d like to encourage you to gather some supplies to donate to your child’s school or another place that might benefit from having supplies on hand. Even if you don’t have a whole lot to spend, that’s perfectly fine. Every single item helps. Elmer’s Glue Sticks and wooden rulers are just 25 cents each at Walmart, so you could get 4 supplies for just $1! Most of our kids end up with extras in their pen and pencil packs, so you could donate those extra items too.You’d be surprised at the difference your simple generosity will do! I feel great after I donate, so I reap the rewards a bit too!
I try to instill the giving nature within my own children too, so they were quite excited to help. Big Bro got to help pick out the supplies while Lil Man went to the school with me to donate our bag of school supplies. The fact that the donation destination happened to be his school gave him such pride. He was excited to help kids that he has grown up with over the last 2 years.
I called ahead to make sure that the school was open since it is still technically summer vacation. They were! So Lil Man and I grabbed our bag of supplies and headed to the school. The secretary was so grateful for our donation and assured us that our supplies will be put to good use. She said that they never have enough supplies for all of the kids who are missing some or all of them.
How would you help gather supplies for your local school?
Connect:
You can connect with Elmer’s on Facebook, @elmers on Twitter and/or Bag it Forward on Pinterest!