As a new school year approached, the St. Ann Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul had an opportunity to help local children begin their classes prepared and ready to learn.
What started with 10 backpacks donated by the St. Ann School of Religion quickly grew into something much bigger. The backpacks were given to the Fr. Philip de Carriere Columbiettes, whose members generously expanded the donation and returned 48 backpacks filled with school supplies for children in grades 1 through 5, along with additional school supplies.
Sharing the Backpacks with Our Neighbors
During two weeks of Food Pantry distributions, we invited our neighbors with school-age children to participate in our Back-to-School Backpack Giveaway. After gathering the names of interested families, recipients were randomly selected to ensure that the backpacks were distributed fairly.
In all, 43 backpacks were provided to local families and another 5 were donated to a local school. The families varied greatly in size—some had one child, while others had as many as seven children.
Selected families were contacted and invited to pick up their backpacks on the Friday or Saturday before school began. Some families also received their backpacks when they came for their regular Food Pantry distribution.
A Community Working Together
After the giveaway, five backpacks and additional school supplies remained. Rather than let anything go unused, these supplies were donated to a local school where they could help other children in need.
The Backpack Giveaway was a wonderful example of what can happen when members of our Catholic community work together. From the initial donation by the St. Ann School of Religion, to the generosity of the Fr. Philip de Carriere Columbiettes, to our Vincentians who coordinated the distribution, many hands helped make the beginning of the school year a little brighter for local children.
For the families who received them, these were more than backpacks filled with pencils, paper, and school supplies. They were a simple reminder that their community cares about them and their children.
“No Act of Charity is Foreign to the Society.”
