So, please make fun of me all you want, but as of today I have purchased everything my kids need with only a couple exceptions for the entire next year. Still holding off on Kleenex, copy paper, and Elmer's glue in the 8oz bottles. I am seriously proud of all my shopping efforts. I found some amazing deals. I will be listing my accomplishments at the bottom of this page, but for now I am going to give my slight rant.
For the last two years I have been helping out with Back 2 School Elkhart. For those of you that don't know, it started out as an idea within my apartment building to help provide less fortunate children in Elkhart with backpacks, school supplies, food boxes, new outfits, shoes/socks, and any health exams or shots they made need. It turned into a program that served over 4,500 kids in our community last year. It is an all day event. I will be volunteering with the program again this year, and if you would like to help too, please message me.
There is only one problem with the program and it mainly is a lack of the right school supplies for the right grades. Part of the problem is donations. We can only give what is donated, if you would like to help with that part, again message me. However, we ended wasting a lot of what is donated. I don't mean it's a waste as it did go to the children that need it, but unfortunately, the kids (as in mine too) ended up with a lot they didn't need and even more missing that I had to go buy on my own and spend $63 on that we simply didn't have last year. I also didn't get the shoes that I had reserved because they gave them away and I had to literally borrow money for school shoes.
This year, we don't need the backpacks. I bought everything my kids need including one pair of shoes. I will continue to volunteer in anyway I can. I just feel like the kids should get what they need. Yes, it may be a pain to have kids come up with list and have all the supplies in bins to be given to only the kids that need it. Yes, we may run out. However, nothing would be wasted. All the kids that were able to get all they needed would have relieved parents. If we did run out we could have money in reserve and have a runner go buy more. I am just saying it makes more sense to me.
I have ran the volunteer room. I have served food. I have rode around on a golf cart at 30 weeks pregnant picking up chairs and tearing down tents. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty, but this year I want to help responsibly. Tomorrow I am helping move supplies around to get ready to move them to the new location. This project is like my baby. I personally have probably stuffed over a thousand backpacks and have talked to two thousand kids. I have seen the impact the project has on the neighborhood. I have hugged other volunteers. If you are struggling this year, I encourage you to come out. If you have extra to give, please give it wisely.
Below is my personal best list of places to buy back to school items. I have listed the item, where I bought it, and what I paid. Good luck mommys and daddys and happy shopping.
24 pk Crayola crayons, Kroger, .25
Scissors, Wal-mart, .76
index cards, Kroger, .15
15 pack glue sticks, Big Lots, 1.60
Pencil Box, Wal-mart, .46
Pencils, Big Lots, .15
Notebooks, Wal-mart, .20
Folders w/prongs, Wal-mart .15
Dry Erase Markers 4 pack, Dollar Tree, 1.00
Ziplock Bags Gal and quart size, Dollar Tree, 1.00
Back Packs, Big Lots, 7.00 (on a side note Wal-mart has some younger style ones for 5.00 however my experience last year with that brand says to avoid at all costs)
Markers, Wal-mart, .45
Clothing:
3 pack of girls socks at dollar tree was duh a dollar, they also have boys socks and long socks for fall/spring for girls
underwear, 3pk at Big Lots was just 2.00
All the children's clothing items were purchased at a combination of Goodwill, Faith Mission Store, Salvation Army, Resale Shops, Going out of Business sales, and garage sales. Everything I bought was name-brand, in style, and either like new or new. People assume I am both married and rich usually when we go out in the fall and winter. In the summer my kids tend to be less careful about the condition their attire gets into, although it all starts out nice.
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