This is a fabulous time of year for giving! Right now there are families who are thinking about the crunch that back-to-school shopping will put on their budgets.
We were asked to participate in the Elmer’s #BagItForward campaign and pick up school supplies for someone we thought could use a helping hand. We chose a 5th grade girl who attends the school at our church. We headed out to Walmart and were able to find all the supplies that we needed at really reasonable prices. I was excited to see how easy and inexpensive it is to help someone with back-to-school shopping.
When we got to Walmart we found great prices, like 50¢ Elmer’s glue and 17¢ spiral notebooks. Sounds like a great time to buy supplies to share AND stock up on a few extras for around the house.
On the back of the Elmer’s bottles we found a special QR code for the Elmer’s 1st Day app. This app is free to download on your phone. In fact, you can click the back of the glue bottle right in the store if you want to! What I like about the 1st Day app is that every time you upload a back-to-school picture via the app, a donation is made to the Kids in Need Foundation. You can learn more about the 1st Day app and celebrate the 1st day of school on the Elmer’s Facebook page or with Elmer’s on Twitter.
You can see our whole Walmart shopping trip here.
Once we had gathered all of our the supplies on the list, we checked out and went to get everything organized for donation. Here’s everything we ended up with.
We decided to splurge on the prettier binders, composition books, erasers, and folder. I want to teach Emma to give generously, what she would want if she was on the receiving end. I think it was worth the extra to get more fun, girlie designs. 🙂
After we got everything organized, we stopped by our church. Emma gave the supplies to our secretary.
Our church secretary agreed to call the family tomorrow and let them know that the supplies were there to be picked up. Three cheers for anonymous giving!
If you want more information about the #BagItForward campaign, stop by BagItForward.org, or visit the Bag It Forward Pinterest board for some giving inspiration. And why not head out to your local Walmart and pick up a few extra school supplies to share with someone who you know could use a helping hand?
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 Elmer’s #BagItForward #CBias
Ideas on making #BagItForward even more fun: * Easy- download the free Elmer’s 1st Day app which allows you to capture, personalize and share images securely. * Gather your friends and have a School Supplies drive! Everyone can bring 10 items. * Buy the list above and give to a school counselor or teacher. They will ensure it gets in the hands of the child who needs it. * Buy 10 (or more) of one school supply item and donate them to a local children’s shelter. * Surprise a neighbor by leaving a bag of school supplies on their porch with the tag “You’ve Been Bagged!” * Ask your teacher what supplies he/she needs for the classroom and buy that. * Host a favorite things party where each attendee brings five of their favorite school supplies to donate to a local school. * Share your experience on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest to spread the word about how you got involved with #BagItForward. Encourage others to do the same to help kids in their community. * Visit ChampionsForKids.org/Simple and share your #BagItForward donation experience so that your involvement can be counted as helping the life of a child.
Great ideas!
I love that you included your daughter in the giving process! Such a wonderful way to teach the importance of giving back! Thank you so much for helping to spread the word about this important #BagItForward effort!
Thanks, Terri. She’s quite a giver already. Even gave away her lesson paper in Sunday School. 🙂 Thanks for working with the #BagItForward movement.