80+ Bookbags for Back to School

Love in Action: More Than 80 Backpacks Ready for Rochester Students

What started with a goal of raising $3,500 turned into something even bigger.

Thanks to the generosity of individuals, businesses, and supporters of the Golden Rule Movement, more than $4,000 was raised to help prepare local children for the upcoming school year.

Our focus was Rochester City School #5, an elementary school serving students from Pre-K through sixth grade. When our Community Outreach Coordinator, Stefania, began reaching out to schools throughout the City of Rochester, School #5 responded with a simple message: the need was great.

So we got to work.

A Gym Full of Backpacks and Love

On Friday evening, August 7, a small group of about 12 to 15 people who have supported the Golden Rule Movement from its beginning gathered together for our first organized group outreach.

We transformed a gymnasium into a backpack packing operation.

Eight tables lined the perimeter of the gym, one for each grade from Pre-K through sixth grade, with stacks of backpacks waiting to be filled. In the center of the gym were all the supplies: composition notebooks, spiral notebooks, loose leaf paper, folders, colored pencils, crayons, glue, headphones, tissues, pencils, pencil holders and more.

One by one, each backpack made its way around the room until it was filled and ready for a child.

We also purchased new socks, underwear and other essentials that will be given to the school principal to distribute to students as needs arise throughout the year.

At one point, everything was laid out. The eight tables, the backpacks, the supplies and a group of people ready to serve.

I just looked around the gym.

Goosebumps.

It was one of those moments when a vision that had existed in your mind suddenly became something you could see right in front of you.

This was Love in Action.

By the end of the night, 80 backpacks were packed specifically for the children of Rochester City School #5. We even had enough supplies left over to prepare several additional backpacks, which went with a local teacher who was there packing with us and knew of another school in need.

In total, more than 80 children in our own community will head into this school year with new backpacks and the supplies they need.

And We’re Not Finished Yet

On Tuesday, August 25, a small GRM team will head to School #5 to help distribute the backpacks to the children.

But there’s another surprise coming.

Local Brockport business owner Jimmy Z has generously stepped up to provide 80 pairs of brand new Nike and Jordan sneakers, one pair for every child receiving a backpack.

When the children receive their backpacks, we’ll collect their names and shoe sizes. Then, that Friday, we’ll return with brand new sneakers specifically selected for each child.

A new backpack.

New school supplies.

And a brand new pair of sneakers.

Our hope is simple: that these children walk into their new school year knowing that people in their community see them, care about them and are cheering them on.

Helping People Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

This night was especially meaningful because it marked the first group community outreach of the Golden Rule Movement.

And if there was one takeaway from seeing that gym filled with backpacks, supplies and people willing to give their time, it was this:

Helping people doesn’t have to be complicated.

Sometimes Love in Action looks like buying someone a cup of coffee.

Sometimes it’s helping a neighbor who’s going through a difficult season.

And sometimes it looks like more than 80 backpacks lined up in a gym, ready to be placed into the hands of children who need them.

We have been blessed with so much. Why wouldn’t we look for opportunities to share those blessings with someone else?

There really is something special about giving. We believe the words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and nights like this remind us just how true they are.

To every person who donated, gave supplies, packed a backpack, shared our fundraiser, supported the vision or helped make this possible:

Thank you.

You helped take an idea and turn it into something real.

You helped us love our neighbors in a practical way.

And most importantly, you helped remind more than 80 children right here in our own city that their community cares about them.

This is what the Golden Rule Movement is all about.

Love in Action.