Back to School #WithPurpose and DaySpring

Being homeschoolers, we’re able to take full advantage of purchasing our school supplies on clearance, since we don’t have to worry about having a backpack full of supplies for the “First Day of School”.

I remember when Amber attended public school, there were students who came with empty backpacks or the very barest of essential supplies.  Some with just a shopping bag to tote their few pencils in.  Attitude has a lot to do with achieving academically, and feeling embarrassed or of less worth because of economic hardship, is not something a child should need to deal with.

$1.00 for a pack of pencils or 25¢ for crayons, should seem affordable for most people, but when you start putting all the supplies from the list into the cart, and for some families for 2, 3 or more children, those costs add up fast.  Often to the tune of hundreds of dollars.

This past Monday, Amber and I got to take a school supply shopping spree on behalf of DaySpring and Collective Bias at Walmart.  We were given a stipend of money, to purchase school supplies to donate to a student in need, and to purchase some of our own.

Being that schools here start next week, our Walmart’s school supply aisles were quite congested, but we found all we needed, and then some (Amber felt the list wasn’t quite comprehensive enough and the students needed more ), including the wonderful Scripture inspired school supplies for the 2010-2011 school year from DaySpring.

They have an artistic flair to them while proclaiming the Good News the Word of God offers.  They come in folders, binders, notebooks, composition books and pencil cases.  See all DaySpring’s new Back to School products sold at Walmart.

Amber’s favorites were the notebooks, and she chose quite a few of them to include in our ‘Power Pack’ donation.

We bought supplies to fill two backpacks to donate.  One will go to HLIC Minneapolis and their Power Pack ministry.  5,000 PowerPacks were provided last year, but many more were requested. The goal for 2010 is to provide a PowerPack for over 10,000 children in the inner city of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

We also filled a backpack full of supplies to a local mission ‘The Banquet’ and their Project: SOS (Supply Our Students).  Here’s a video of a local newscast explaining how they distribute them.

See our shopping experience here:

The Back to School With Purpose Website is up and running.  Included in the site are some great Real Moms that offer you some great advice on how to best help your kids to go back to school with purpose. You can also join and support DaySpring’s $5000 donation for Adopt-A-Classroom until August 21st.  It’s simple and here’s how:

DAYSPRING’S BACK TO SCHOOL WITH PURPOSE BLOG CAMPAIGN RULES:

• Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
• Create a blog post about what it means to you to go Back to School WithPurpose and identify others who you feel are Living With Purpose in their lives – you can recognize as many individuals as you want.
• Link back to person who gave you a DaySpring Award
• Let each person you are recognizing know you have recognized them.
• Leave your link at btswithpurpose comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #WithPurpose blog campaign, and more information about Back to School with Purpose with DaySpring there.

I’m tagging my friend Shirley at A Mom After God’s Own Heart.  This Mom truly brings the love of God into all that she does.  She is always encouraging, helping others and has the most exuberant attitude to the life God has given her.  She truly Lives life with a Purpose, and that is to show others that she is a child of the King.

Do you have a program in your area that donates school supplies for students in need?  If you do I encourage you to participate in it, even if you just drop in a package of pens or markers.  Let me know if you do!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I wrote this post as part of a blog campaign by Collective Bias on behalf of DaySpring and was compensated for my thoughts and time.  The information about Back to School #withpurpose, were supplied to me by Collective Bias.

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