PROGRAMS
GET INVOLVED
SITE SEARCH |
|
provided by google
|
|
|
OBI's Pencil Case Kits!
Through OBI's unique
Pencil
Case Kit Project, you can help equip US and international students with
items including scissors, pencils, a glue stick and crayons. A child's situation
can be positively changed for just $6!
Check out how you, your friends, family, and groups can assemble Pencil Case Kits today!
|
|
Partners Glue Children's Confidence With Pencil Case Kits!
Starting school again can be traumatic for kids whose parents can't afford supplies. Through Operation Blessing's unique Pencil Case Kit Project, partners from states including Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia have taken the challenge and are helping to equip students worldwide with items including scissors, pencils, a glue stick and crayons!
Remembering an embarrassing situation during junior high school, Cherri and her husband reached out to help.
Twenty-five years ago in a rural Michigan town, a junior high home economics class was preparing to begin a project. Checking to ensure all of the students had brought in the proper materials, the teacher came to her. Apparently not detecting the girl's poverty-stricken home life from her tattered clothes and poor hygiene, the teacher openly ridiculed the student for not having the items. As one of the girl's classmates, Cherri recently relayed in a letter attached to several pencil case kits, "I can still remember the embarrassment on her face. Here are some supplies so other kids don't have to suffer that same indignation."
With a heart to serve and always looking for small projects, Cherri ran across the Pencil Case Kit Project on OBI's web site. "I think this would be an excellent teaching moment for all families as they shop with their children for their own back-to-school supplies. Many of us, kids too, take this small package of supplies for granted," shared this frequent community volunteer. "Most of us have $6 for these supplies, and usually much more. Right now [with sale prices] folks could easily put these together for a little under $3 each. I think even our seniors would get a kick out of this project. It's such a small dollar amount and they could really feel they’ve made a tangible difference with their limited incomes."
She continued, "In my work and volunteer efforts, I’ve seen first-hand families and single moms struggling to meet basic needs. Usually choices are rent, food, utilities, medicine, or diapers. School supplies are not part of this equation. Schools often times give out a rather lengthy list of supplies at the beginning of the school year. Filling this list even for one child could prove daunting for many of these families—and most have at least three children."
The thought of a little child clutching the pencil case kit with all his might brings a smile to Cherri and her husband's faces. "An education will give him his future world," she commented. "Oh, and don’t you just remember the smell of NEW crayons?!"
|
]