Ways to Get Involved 

• Fill 1 or more backpacks: Printed supply checklists for each age group will be available at the table in the foyer. You can also download the lists here.
• Write a note of encouragement to place inside the backpack. Kids drawings or notes welcome! They can be anonymous, if you wish.
• Logistics support: Sign up to volunteer here. 
  • Help at the table in the Foyer on one or more Sunday mornings. 
  • Help organize backpacks the week of July 14th.
  • Help transport backpacks to the collection point at Timberline Church.
• Pray: Pray for the children receiving each backpack.

Why Get Involved?

• To ENGAGE children & youth in the foster care system & their supporting networks. Our congregation can use this opportunity to directly reach foster kids & their supporting families. This demonstrates Christ’s love by meeting a very real need & extends an invite to such families to attend church. 
• As an act of obedience: There are many references in scripture about caring for the fatherless in very tangible ways: 

James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” 

James 2:15-16: “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”

Hosea 14:3: “For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

Psalm 82:3: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.”

Deuteronomy 10:18: “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.”

• To show children in our community, who are often in heartbreaking situations at no fault of their own, that they are loved and valued.
• To support foster families who are caring for these children & show them the love of Christ.
• To act as a model to our own children/grandchildren of what it looks like to care for others. This is a great opportunity to have a conversation with children about what the foster care system is and get them involved in serving. 
• In a workplace environment, this is a great team building group activity to fill backpacks together. A great way to bring Christ-centered love into the workplace.

Elementary Supply List

• • 1 pkg of crayons: 24+ ct
  • 1 pkg wide-tipped markers
  • 1 pkg thin-tipped markers
  • 1 pkg of colored pencils: 12+ ct
  • 5 glue sticks
  • 1 Elmer’s School Glue
  • 24-48 #2 sharpened pencils
  • 2 blue or black ballpoint pens
  • 2 red ballpoint pens
  • 1 yellow highlighter
  • 2 wide ruled spiral notebooks
  • 2 wide ruled composition books
  • 2 two-pocket folders – different colors 1 ruler with inches and metric
  • 1 pair of 5” scissors
  • 1-2 pink erasers
  • 5×8 school box

Middle Supply List

• 3 one inch 3 ring binders
• 2 pkgs college ruled loose leaf paper
• 2 college ruled composition books
• 24 #2 sharpened pencils
• 1 blue ballpoint pen
• 1 black ballpoint pen
• 1 pkg of markers: 12 ct
• 1 pkg of colored pencils: 12+ ct 
• 1 pencil bag
• 3 three-prong, two-pocket folders
• 2 college ruled spiral notebooks
• 1 pkg of 8 divider tabs 
• 8+ highlighters – assorted colors

High School Supply List

• • 3 one inch 3 ring binders
  • 1 pkg college ruled loose leaf paper 
  • 1 pkg of 8 divider tabs 
  • 12 mechanical pencils
  • 5 blue pens
  • 5 black pens 
  • 2 college ruled spiral notebooks
  • 2 college ruled composition books
  • 2 three-prong, two-pocket folders – different colors

Extra Supplies Often Overlooked: 

• Encouraging notes or affirmation cards (age appropriate)
• Graph paper
• Black sharpies
• Sticky notes
• Water bottle
• Dry erase markers
• Hand sanitizer
• Ream of copy paper
• Combination lock
• Index cards – lined & unlined
• Scientific calculators – for high schoolers & college only
• Tissues

Earbuds & flash drives will be provided, using financial donations made to the program.