Elmer's Glue.....Bag It Forward

Elmer's Glue has this awesome program going on called Bag It Forward

The way the program works is this:

While you are out getting awesome schools supplies for your little one, pick up

extras and "Bag" someone. It can be a needy student, a deserving teacher, anyone who will

benefit from your school supplies.

This year the kids and I have decided we are going to

"Bag It Forward".

You guys know I don't mind sharing my life experiences with you and I am going to share

something with you that I don't share a lot.

In 2006 I found myself in a bad relationship, I had just been laid off from my job, my car had broken down, I was raising Alexis by myself (before her dad pulled his stunt) and we were about to get kicked out of our apartment. My relationship with my family at that time was sketchy and I felt I had no where to go so Lex and I ended up at the Salvation Army's Women and Children Program.

Now some of you read this and thought "how awful", some of you read this and passed judgement and others may be able to relate to this situation. Everything was an obstacle. Somehow I was blessed with summer childcare because I was able to find a job but it was only a month before school started and Lexi was going to be needing school supplies and school uniforms and I had no idea how I was going to get her everything she needed, save for a car and an apartment.

One day I got a call from my case manager that said she needed to see me when I got in from work. 

When I went into her office there were black trash bags filling her office.

She told me that a few weeks before she was contacted by someone who wanted to be a blessing to someone else. This person had stayed in a shelter with her mother when she was a little girl and she remembered starting school with no new clothes and no school supplies and she wanted to make sure that she could make things easier for another child in that situation.

This lady bought my daughter 7 days worth of school uniforms, 7 days worth of regular clothes, 2 packages of sock, 2 packages of underwear, 4 pair of various shoes, new hair brush, ponytail holders, headbands but she bought Lexi enough school supplies that even being homeless, we were able to give the extras to the other kids who lived with us. 

I am crying as I write this because you have no idea how much of an impact this had on my life. 

So, this week coming up, we will be headed to buy school supplies for a child in need.

We will never get to see the look on their face or that of their parent(s) but as a mom who has been there, it makes a BIG difference.

We may even try to do some school clothes too.

I promise I'll post about this one again.