School Kits!

It's that time of year where we focus on gathering supplies for Luther World Relief School Kits! We try to make a few more every year than the year before...it's basically just a bag full of basic supplies that would be needed for anyone. It's fun to involve Sarah in this - she helps me pack the bags and take them to church. We really are SOOOO blessed in this country - compared to so many that it really seems our duty to share the wealth. It can be pretty painless on your pocket book if you watch the sales carefully this time of year - I have another post about a huge Walgreen's score for you tomorrow!

A school kit may provide the only supplies for children returning to school after the disruption of war. School kits help parents continue their children's education, even while living in a refugee camp, for example. A school kit may also be used in adult literacy classes.

Your group can also help LWR get school kits to the people who need them by donating a brick on the Good Samaritan Quilt Plaza or by making a contribution to the Project Comfort Fund.

Review the General Assembly Instructions before collecting items for the school kits.

Include the following items in each school kit:

-Notebooks of wide- or college-ruled paper approximately 8" x 10 ½" totaling 150-200 sheets (if using 70-sheet notebooks, please include three); no loose-leaf paper
-One blunt scissors (safety scissors with embedded steel blades work well)
-One 30-centimeter ruler, or a ruler with centimeters on one side and inches on the other
-One pencil sharpener
-Six new, unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers; secure together with a rubber band
-One eraser approximately 2 ½" long
-12 sheets of construction paper in assorted colors (if necessary, fold in half to fit into the school kit bag)
-One box of 16 or 24 crayons
-One sturdy cloth bag approximately 12" X 14" with cloth handles or drawstring closure (see below for downloadable patterns)

***Do not add other items or leave out any of the items listed. All items should be new and in good condition. Remove any excess packaging and pack items in the bag, fold the handles over, and secure with two large rubber bands or tie with yarn. Click here for a sample school kit wrapped and ready for shipping. Do not enclose the kit or any of its contents in plastic bags.

*Sending top quality items makes a caring statement to the recipient about the giver. Please give new items only, except where noted otherwise.

*Please do not donate items with any religious symbols, messages or with your congregation’s name. LWR provides material resources based on need, regardless of religious creed. Religious references could be misinterpreted by the governments of the receiving countries, jeopardizing the delivery to the people who need the items most.

*Please do not donate any items decorated with a U.S. flag, patriotic or military symbols, or references to the armed forces, including camouflage. LWR and our overseas partners have access to areas of the world others do not because we are impartial humanitarian organizations. If our intentions are misinterpreted as being politically motivated, our work, our partners and the people we assist could be endangered.

We are doing pretty well - we only need Erasers, crayons and construction paper and we will have made 10 kits this year! What have you done lately to give back some of your blessings to others? (This is not meant to be a guilt trip...just a thought starter!)
:)