This school year is very exciting for our family – my son is headed into Kindergarten! He’s been attending preschool for the last two years, but this will be the first year that he is shopping for school supplies. I absolutely loved the tradition of shopping for school supplies when I was younger, so I may have been more excited than my son to head to the store this weekend and stock up.
It was Tax Free Weekend, so I knew that it was going to be busy but there was another reason I wanted to brave the crowds and visit Walmart to buy my son’s school supplies. I was excited to be partnering with Champions for Kids and Elmer’s for the Bag It Forward program. The Elmer’s Bag It Forward program encourages everyone to buy an extra bag of school supplies as you are shopping for your child’s and donate the supplies to a local shelter or school. It hurts my heart to think of children not having quality school supplies of their own, so this cause really spoke to me, plus it’s just such a simple service task.
There is a fantastic organization in St. Louis called KidSmart, who distributes free school supplies to teachers once a month. There are more than 90,000 students in St. Louis who cannot afford basic school supplies like pencils, glue, paper and crayons. KidSmart puts those supplies in the hands of teachers who give them to the kids that need them at school. Every August, KidSmart holds a a school supply drive called Push for Pencils. One of the largest of its kind in Missouri, Push for Pencils brings together over 150 businesses to gather together over 500,000 essential school supplies to kids in need.
This weekend, all of the local Walmarts were set up with donation boxes and volunteers to accept new school supplies for the Push for Pencils program through KidSmart. It was just another great reason to shop at Walmart this weekend for my son’s school supplies. I was going to also be able to share with my son the importance of helping others.
We headed to Walmart with my son’s Kindergarten Supply List and also the list of items on Push for Pencils wishlist. While it was very busy at Walmart, we were able to find so many great deals on items both for Hayden and also for students in need! I really appreciated that I was able to explain to my son how we were helping children in need. He loved picking out school supplies not only for himself, but for other kids his age.
For only $12, I was able to get all of the school supplies pictured above. I was so happy thinking how happy those brand new school supplies would make a child on their first day of school! All weekend KidSmart had volunteers by the Push for Pencils donation bins inside Walmart. I loved that I was able to talk to a volunteer who could tell me firsthand about the teachers that come in to pick up school supplies for the children that are in need.
Donating to Push for Pencils with KidSmart will definitely become a tradition for my family and I as we shop for school supplies each August! Why not make it yours and grab a few extra school supplies as you shop for yours! It’s so easy to Bag it Forward with Elmer’s and Champions for Kids!
Make sure to check out our Google + Album that shows our whole shopping trip!
For more information on this great campaign, check out the Champions for Kids website and stay updated and inspired by following Elmer’s on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
What a great program to teach to give back!
i love this program! I think its great to help others out whenever possible 🙂
I love that you are giving back and tax free weekend was a fabulous time to do it. We donated some school supplies this weekend as well and it was great for the kids to help in giving back.
This is a great program, giving back encourages positivity and inspiration, I love that they are doing this.
What a great way to give back to kids in need. When I think about how hard so many kids have it I get pretty sad.
I think it’s great they had people there would could provide more info on the donations. Awesome!
This is such a great program and will benefit so many kids. Love it!
What a great example to set for your son! And this is such a great program.
I love to see these programs to give back. It’s great to see your little guy jumping on board with it!
This is neat—I don’t think ours does a “Push for Pencils” but I’ll have to double check.
What a great program and it is a win-win situation. Your children learn the lesson of giving and helping others and the recipients get some great school supplies!
Such an easy way to give back and do good for the community. Love that the kids can get involved too.
This is a great program. I try to give back as much as possible as well. It’s important that we all do our part to help those less fortunate than us. I try to always remember, that no matter how down and out I may get that there are others who are far worse. Grateful!