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Home > Archive > Jul 26, 2007

Backpacks for Kids in Need
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
Imagine an elementary school child arriving the first day of class with no backpack and no school supplies. This scenario happens for many students in Washington County, both elementary and secondary, who attend school unprepared because their families can't afford needed classroom supplies. A local group, however, is striving to remedy the problem.
Backpacks for Kids, Inc., a nonprofit charity group, has been supplying Washington County students, elementary, intermediate, junior high and high school ages, with backpacks and school supplies for the past four years. Soliciting financial support from the community each year, Backpacks for Kids uses donations received to purchase new backpacks for Washington County School District students, filled with basic supplies they will need throughout the year, such as notebooks, pens, rulers and calculators. The backpacks given to the elementary school students even come equipped with toothbrushes and new crayons.
“When those kids get that backpack, they've got a smile that just never leaves them,” Backpacks for Kids, Inc. treasurer Greg Basso said. “They are now as good as every other child in there. That's what we're trying to do, let them feel that they're just as good as the next child and there's nobody better.”
With a goal of supplying 15 of these well-stocked backpacks for each school in the Washington County District (with the exception of two schools that Costco will be supplying backpacks for this year), Backpacks for Kids purchases the supplies, assembles the backpacks and delivers them to the schools each fall. Once the schools have received their backpacks, it is at the discretion of school counselors to distribute them to the students who need them most.
Backpacks for Kids purchases all the backpacks and supplies for their yearly project from the St. George Walgreens, which sells all the items to the group at cost. Several wheeled backpacks are also made available for students who have additional needs and aren't able to carry their backpacks.
The best part about these donated backpacks, Backpacks for Kids president Kent Matheny said, is they look like any other backpack – they aren't identifiable as “charity” backpacks.
“They're what you would buy off the shelf.” Matheny said. “They don't know by looking at the backpacks that the kids got them for free because they couldn't afford one, which keeps them from having a stigma attached to them.”
Because of this, he said, the kids can proudly wear their new backpacks without experiencing any sort of embarrassment or teasing from their peers.
Basso said another problem the group is striving to alleviate, in addition to supplying local kids with what they need, is the financial strain teachers experience when they have students in need and no way to help them.
“Sally or Jimmy is sitting there, and they don't have a pencil. What are you going to do?” he said. “I think the main thing, more than anything else, is that teachers go out of their way to spend money to help these kids, and there are just not enough funds to go around. So anytime anybody can do something to help somebody, especially this younger generation, we need to do it.”
Originally formed through the efforts of local Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church and the Red Rock Rotary Club, Backpacks for Kids has seen a growth in its membership since beginning. Many community groups and local citizens have gotten involved to help, and the group is seeking more members.
Hearing about the results of the group's efforts has been gratifying, Matheny said. Each year, Backpacks for Kids receives letters from grateful counselors, teachers and kids, thanking them for what they do.
“The students that received them were openly awed and treasured them,” one school counselor wrote. “These students don't take things for granted, and so they really were glad to get them. It was gratifying to see the defeated look leave and the straightening of their shoulders and a smile on their face.”
Having recently received nonprofit tax status, Backpacks for Kids is now in the process of applying for grants to help them in their efforts, Matheny said. They hope, through grant funding, to expand Backpacks for Kids to help neighboring counties in the near future.
“My firm belief is if you can make a living here, give back to this community, because it's going to take care of us later on,” Basso said. “Whatever we can do to help children, that's what we want to do in this community.”
So far this year, Backpacks for Kids has raised $4,456 in donations from local community members, but the group needs $6,100 to fully pay for the backpacks and school supplies. Anyone wishing to contribute to Backpacks for Kids can contact Matheny at 635-9270 or send donations to:
Backpacks for Kids, Inc., C/O Greg Basso, 787 W. Windsor Dr., St. George, Utah 84770.

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