Elmer’s #BagItForward to a friend in need! #Cbias

I feel very fortunate to be able to afford the needs that my children have. I try not to take advantage that I am able to put food on the table.. able to support their favorite activities.. able to provide them shelter. While I am thankful I am able to do this, I know that others do not have the ability to provide the most basic needs to their kids.  I try my hardest to be able to support all our local charities in some form or another, and feel extremely grateful that I have been able to work with with some  amazing campaigns to help children in this country. The most recent project I am working on is no exception; Elmer’s, the wonderful company behind all the fantastic school supplies,  is sponsoring the Bag it Forward campaign. The mission of this campaign is to help provide school supplies to children in need and teachers in local communities across the country.

This campaign could not have come at a more meaningful time as we recently found out that a dear friend of ours lost her job. Her husband has already been out of work for a few months, and relied on my friend’s salary to make the household ends meet for the last year. They barely could afford the bills and with this layoff, the stress of paying the bills basically put them in a huge financial hole. They also have a son who is entering his first year of kindergarten and while they are excited to see him go to the “big” school, they did not know how they could afford any of the supplies that he might need when he enters his first year. I decided that I wanted to help them out by making her son a special Elmer’s back-to-school bag, filled with fun goodies for the school year. Since Hayley is friends with him, she wanted to provide whatever support she can, to put a big smile on her friends face.

In order to get started on our #BagItForward campaign, we headed to Walmart to go back-to-school shopping. Lucky for us, just that same day, Elmer’s put up their huge 1st day of school school list holder to make back to school shopping easy for us moms! It was so easy to find as it was directly in the middle of the front aisle in our local Walmart.

 

Elmer’s also displayed the scan QR code to download the Elmer’s 1st Day App which is a free mobile app that helps parents capture those fantastic “1st day” moments of the school year. You can readily snap photos of your kids on the big day in addition to those special firsts and other special moments throughout out the year. Once you snap the photos, you can then share the albums, notes, and special moments with family.  In addition if you are a teacher, you can also share photos of classrooms, school projects, and more with families and friends.

 

As if this app is not awesome enough, Elmer’s has also graciously offered to donate one product (up to 200,000) to the Kids in Need Foundation for each photo uploaded to the 1st Day App! When Hayley and I were in Walmart, we wanted to test out the app to see how easy it was to take a picture and upload it. It took us all of two seconds to have it downloaded and set to upload to the 1st Day App. I can not wait to use this app to take pictures of Hayley when she starts her school year in the fall! I plan to share all her pictures with our family through this Elmer’s wonderful 1st Day App!

 

I was going to buy Hayley school supplies and then pay it forward (Buy two, Give one) by  purchasing quality school supplies at Walmart for her friend in need. We instantly checked out all the amazing products made by Elmer’s that we can incorporate in the #BagItForward campaign.  To see my full shopping story for Elmer’s school supplies, check out my google plus story.

 

 

For less than $35, I was able to put together a full book bag with wonderful school products for Hayley’s friend. It is  amazing how inexpensive the school supplies were and how much quality and quantity you can get for a low cost. For instance, the glue sticks were a mere 10 cents each. We found notebooks that were 30 cents each.  I was able to buy so many wonderful supplies for Hayley and her friend at such affordable costs. If you have not gone back to school shopping, I highly suggest you go now, as the deals are too good to miss!

After we checked out, Hayley and I went home to start working on our Elmer’s surprise pack for her friend. We sat down in the afternoon and she spent a lot of time using some of the wonderful Elmer’s quality school supply products to come up with the cutest card for her friend.

 

We then put the card together with the book bag filled of goodies!

 

 

Hayley and I then went to drop off her friends special back to school pack at their house. I decided to drop it off in their backyard because I wanted the boy to be extremely surprised when he  got home and saw what was waiting for him.

While I was not there to see him open it, my girlfriend called me immediately after in tears of joy. She was so thankful of what I did to help out her son with the up and coming school year. I was so grateful that I could help a family in need and provide smiles on their faces that have not been seen in a long time. I also loved the fact that Hayley helped me through the entire way because I truly believe it is important to teach children at a young age the meaning of giving, rather than always receiving.

I challenge you to take a couple of minutes out of your day to join the Elmer’s BagItForward Campaign! Put together a small box of school goodies for a certain child in need or special teacher in your life. It is cheap, easy, and extremely rewarding to do!

To learn more about the Bag it Forward project, visit BagItForward.org. You can also connect with Elmer’s on their Elmer’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @Elmers. The Bag It Forward campaign is on Pinterest and you can readily download the 1st Day App as well. If you are interested, I made a top 10 list for going back to school that can help when you start going shopping for your kids.

 

 

 

 

*I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Elmer’s #BagItForward #CBias. All my opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.