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Back to school backpacks for all

July 17, 2007 12:35 am

BY RACHANA DIXIT

One year ago, a little girl going to school in Lincoln County, W.Va., stood in front of a backpack and asked her dad, "This is for me? I get to keep this?"

It was then that Carol Grimes, a teacher who helped start the Appalachia Project to donate school supplies to children, realized the impact of her efforts.

"We have to do this again," she said.

Grimes is a member of Promised Land Praise and Worship Center in Spotsylvania County, and the project she helped create is in its second year.

Last year, the 30-member church and its sister--Mountain View Christian Fellowship in Amherst County--donated 140 backpacks to school kids in kindergarten through eighth grade. The book bags were filled with supplies like notebooks, pencils, pens and markers.

"I think it just blew [the kids'] minds that somebody cared enough to do it," said Patricia Bell, fundraising director for the Spotsylvania church.

Bell said there are some children who have a two-hour bus ride to school and only a piece of coal for writing.

Grimes started the project partly because she grew up poor herself. This year, the church is giving to schoolchildren in McDowell County, W.Va., one of the poorest counties in the nation.

"I know what kids feel like when they're at school," she said, "and some of the kids have all the niceties, and some have nothing. I knew what it was like to start school without a book bag."

It takes a $10 donation for the church to buy a backpack and fill it. So far, they have 550 backpacks, which already exceeds this year's goal of 500.

"This has been such a blessing how [the project] has taken off," Bell said.

This year, the church added jeans to their donation inventory. They also give boxes to teachers with crafts, paper, board cleaners and staples, among other things.

Not counting high schoolers, McDowell County schools have 4,000 students and eight elementary schools. Grimes said they plan to donate to all of those schools this year.

"Depending on the response we get, we really may be able to give to the poorest ones in all eight schools," she said.

Last year, they gave backpacks to two schools in Lincoln County--Midway Elementary School in Alum Creek and Duval Elementary School in Griffithsville.

Bell said their delivery to McDowell County, a more-than-five-hour drive from here, will take place in the beginning of August. A second delivery will be made around Christmas time.

Grimes said giving the kids the opportunity to pick and choose what they want is one of the best things about the project.

Last year, she said, a boy stood over the pile of backpacks and said, "Well, I just can't decide what I want."

"They were so excited," Grimes said.