Even as the school year comes to a close, preparation is well under way in anticipation of the third annual "Back Packs to School" event. The carnival-style events, coinciding with school registration for the upcoming school year, provide back packs to children in K-8 Title 1 schools. This year, GAP Ministries and Partners will provide ten Title 1 schools in the Amphitheater and Flowing Wells school districts with more than 6,000 back packs stuffed with school supplies.
This years' marathon of back pack events begins at Centennial, Lulu Walker and Coronado schools on Saturday the 28th of July. This will be followed with evening events at Walter Douglas (7/30), Laguna (7/31), Rio Vista (8/1), Prince (8/2) and Hollaway (8/3). The busy week will end with school carnivals at Nash and Keeling schools on Saturday, August 4th. GAP will host a special event and celebration on Sunday, August 5th.
A
Jump Start on the School Year
As the children
return to school, focus should be on the new beginning and a fresh start
for another school year of education and development. The events are
executed in rapid succession to assure they all occur at the very beginning
of the year. The planners at GAP Ministries and their partners believe
that this "jump start" puts the children and the parents into
a positive frame of reference by surrounding the presentation of the
back packs with cotton candy, popcorn, jumping castles, hot dogs, chips,
soda, snow cones and a variety of games. It is a positive environment
for the teachers as well, for they meet their students in a fun atmosphere.
Underlying it all is the notion that the children receiving the back
pack and supplies have one less stress to contend with as they begin
the school year.
Bridging
the GAP
The
founders of GAP Ministries, Pam and Greg Ayers know children well. With several
of their own, they have built GAP ministries as a refuge and safe haven for
82 children whose circumstances required they be placed in group homes. Their
mutual vision is to eventually attain the ability, through individual, community
and congregational assistance to provide a back pack to every single child
in a local Title 1 School. By adding a school district every year they hope
to achieve this vision. By the time all school districts are adopted, 79,000
children will receive a new back pack each and every year.
Planners know only too well how critical community support is. Marshalling resources and the logistics of the project are a challenge, especially when you consider the compressed time frame when the events must be conducted in order to impact the very beginning of the school year. Community volunteers are a vital part of hosting a successful event at each school location, as well as donations from local businesses and organizations.
Get
Involved
Support is still needed for this year's event in the form of donations
and volunteer support. To participate in "Back Packs for Schools," please
contact GAP ministries at 877-8077 or email GAP at greg@gapministries.cc.
You can visit them on the web at www.gapministries.cc.
© 2008 Good News Tucson™
