We all know how crucial it is for every student who is going back to school to have what they need in order to succeed.  I am so grateful that my husband and I are able to provide our kids with their basic school needs and even beyond.  A new backpack is not exactly a basic school need since they have perfectly functioning ones from previous years, but they are still privileged enough to receive one.  Many of us know, that's not the case for so many others.

I was so excited to learn about the #ChampionsforKids Elmer's #BagItForward Simple Service Project.  What an amazing opportunity to rally our community {and kids} to help those who cannot afford the essential school supplies needed to get off on the right foot this upcoming school year!

When you visit the website you'll see this:

Champions for Kids website

…. an explanation of the Simple Service Project — simply get your friends and family together to show their support by gathering school supplies which will go to support a local classroom in your community.

My kids and I decided that we will host a school supplies donation drive at an upcoming football practice.  We'll encourage parents and kids to drop off their donations to us when they go to practice.  We've talked extensively about how some kids' families cannot even afford to pay their light bill or to buy food, let alone pencils, glue or paper for the upcoming school year.  I know that at my kids' school, each year before summer break the kids are encouraged to donate any school supplies they feel comfortable parting with.  Most of the time I allow my kids to donate it all since I tend to purchase extras anyway.  I think that's a great reminder to kids that nothing should ever be wasted or taken for granted.  The organization we'll be donating our school supplies to is our local county Health & Human Services Department.  Although we live in a seemingly affluent county, many residents don't realize that there are various parts of the county which are considered low-income.  This department accepts school supply donations throughout the year and they are distributed to identified low-income families of the school district.  I am personally very happy that we'll be able to help families in our own backyard this back-to-school season and I think my kids will be happy to be involved as well!

I recently took the kids to purchase a few supplies of our own to donate.  They were excited about seeing all the fun backpacks and school glue and crayons out on display.  There's just something that makes me smile when I see kids giddy over markers and glue sticks!  You can view all of our photos from the shopping trip here on my Google+ story.  

My kids were so excited to discover Elmer's Glitter Glue! So many fun projects are possible with this!

After all was said and done, we had loads of supplies to donate and happy, excited kids!

To find out more about the Champions For Kids, visit their website here, and follow them on Twitter or Facebook.  You can also visit Elmer's on Facebook or Twitter.  And be sure to stay tuned for my post next week where I will share how our Simple Service Project went and what we collected!

{Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions for Kids #CBias #SocialFabric.  All opinions shared are my own. No one is the boss of me!}