Family Service Project

I wanted our family to do at least one big service project this summer and I was really excited when the Utah Refugee Connection posted on their Facebook page about an opportunity to provide backpacks to refugee kids living in the Salt Lake area. I posted on my FB page about the project and asked for donations, I also posted in the neighborhood page hoping some of the people from the ward would donate. My friend Jeanne-Marie, with whom I had gone to Romania with, wanted to participate as well along with her kids who are about my kids ages. So we spent about two weeks collecting supplies. I had three people in my ward donate supplies. I also purchased a bunch of stuff. My mom was a hero and purchased a ton of backpacks that were pre-filled with supplies and had them delivered to my house. This was awesome because we only had about 6 donated backpacks and I was afraid I'd have to go buy a whole bunch, which I was not prepared to do since I had spent my limit on Cruise's birthday party. The backpacks showed up just in time! The boys helped me put all the supplies in piles so it would be easier to fill the backpacks. I wrote out on my big whiteboard what needed to go in each backpack. Jeanne-Marie and her family came over to my house on July 31st so we could all fill them together. We had two kids at a time each fill a backpack so they could be included in helping. Then Jeanne-Marie and I filled as many as we could and wrote down what needed to be purchased to finish the rest. She ordered everything to be picked up the next day at Target, and then she and her kids came over and we finished everything. We put together 16 elementary school backpacks and 10 high school backpacks!

The next day, my family delivered them to an elementary school in SLC. They distribute them to the schools that need them and they're handed out at back-to-school night. I think the kids had a good experience and I am hoping it is a project we can do every year.