Backpack Ideas That Will Make Your Welcome Back to School Extra Special 

Have you met people in need of school supplies? Have you had the thought of helping them, but never did anything? Are you trying to find ways to give with what you have? In this blog post, I'm sharing what God is doing with my husband and I to bring joy to children and teenagers this school year. 

For the past 4 years, my husband and I have been blessed to bless others through “Backpacks With a Purpose.” 

Why Backpacks Can Be More Than Just a School Supply

We've been helping children through a local organization, but it's been in our hearts to just do it on our own. We get to see the children's faces, how happy they get, and oh goodness, the conversations. It is such a joy! 

Helping our local children and teenagers is a symbol of readiness, dignity, and hope. 

Matthew 25:40 (AMP) “The King will answer and say to them, ‘I will assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.’ “

Planning Your Own “Bookbags With a Purpose” Project 

To do something like this, takes careful planning. We need financial resources and time management skills put into practice. Whatever we learn here at Kingdom Timekeepers, will help you even organize projects similar to “Bookbags With a Purpose” to bless children and teenagers in your community. 

The Lord has blessed us financially to do this, but in the beginning we took the little that we had and adopted a child for Christmas, and on another occasion, we provided school supplies. This year, we provided bookbags with school supplies, snacks, and on two different occasions provided monetary help.

Disclaimer: All of this was done with money out of pocket. We purchased everything with our own money to provide for these children and teenagers in our local community. Also, I'm not writing this for any wrong purpose, or internal praise and glory. We give ALL THE GLORY AND PRAISE to Jesus Christ for extending our dollar and providing the finances to do this.

Hallelujah! ✋🙏🙏🙌

Budgeting and Fundraising Ideas

Every person's financial situation is different. If you have a desire to help others, but your financial means don't allow it, look around your home and see what you can give away. I did this with a lot of things I had laying around the house (and still have a HUGE storage box to give away). 

On the other hand, if you want to raise funds to purchase bookbags, here are some ideas to inspire you to begin:

• Garage Sale 
• Online Fundraisers
• Asking local businesses 

Time Management & Planning 

One thing I find myself enjoying is planning way ahead of time. Our goal for this year was to bless 8 children. But God has other plans. We blessed 9 children and 2 teenagers!! Hallelujah 🙌 🙏. To God be ALL the glory. Praise Jesus!! He not only extended our dollar to do this, but He also brought 3 extra children to bless.

Our goal for next year is to double that. Do you think God can do it? I have faith and confidence He will do it.

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for ( divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [their conviction of their reality - faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]” (Hebrews 11:1, AMP).

As Christian entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders (individuals in general), we want to make sure we are prepared and organized. Here are three things we can do now to bless children during the school year the following year.

Set a budget. Grab an envelope and add one dollar every chance you get. Over time, you'll be able to see how that envelope will grow from all the dollar bills you're adding there. For a lot of us, we're addicted to the dollar store, imagine saving that money to bless a child. Starting now, this means that by next year this time,you have saved up around $ 52! Our bookbags cost us $5 each at Target. That's 9 children we can bless with $45, leaving room for taxes. Wow!!! 😮 God can make it happen!!

Plan where to announce it. We announced this through a Facebook group my husband is a part of. You won't believe how people are also happy to help. We announced this on Sunday, and within 4 hours the bookbags were all given out. They came over to our place and picked them up. Now, on Monday, God made a way to bless 2 more children. 🥹

Give God ALL the glory. Carve out time to praise, worship, pray, be thankful and grateful for all that God has done. This is the beginning of something beautiful.

What Area Some Backpack Fill Ideas

Target had quite a lot of school supplies for less than .50 cents. We were able to fill the bags with:

• Pack of filler paper
• Ruler
• Erasers 
• Glue
• Notebook 
• Pencil sharpener 
• Pack of pencils

As for snacks, we purchased a variety of snack boxes to distribute between the bookbags. We also added juice boxes, and chips (also purchased at Target).

Other items you can add (if your finances allow it) are:

• Hand sanitizer 
• Kleenex 
• Reusable water bottle (we added these as well)
• Encouragement cards (the dollar store has prayer cards)
• Small treats and snacks (mentioned above)

Unfortunately, due to the privacy and security of the children and their families, no pictures were taken. However, here's a picture of the bookbags given 👇

Now, I can't wait to hear what you've done with this idea. Will you give it a try? If so, don't forget to share it below and in our social media accounts.