How It All Began:
It all started with a simple text message in 2014. A friend of mine, a single mother of four, reached out asking for help purchasing school supplies for her children. She was living on a limited income and barely getting by. Without hesitation, I jumped into action.
But I decided to take it one step further. I asked if her kids could come along so they could pick out their own supplies. Watching those four children's faces light up as they found their favorite backpack, chose the coolest pencils, and selected fun supplies was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. As a single mother myself, I understood the struggle that so many of us face—stretching every penny as far as possible, knowing that one unexpected expense could throw everything off balance.
I have always loved back-to-school shopping. I looked forward to it every fall when I was little—the excitement of new folders, the smell of fresh crayons, the promise of a new year. Realizing that many children likely never get to experience that same rush of excitement hit me hard, right at my core. It became my mission to help local kids get a backpack full of supplies so they could feel that same magic I remembered from my childhood.
That year, I ended up filling another 8 backpacks for other children in our community, for a grand total of 12 backpacks. I had no idea that this simple act of helping a friend would become the beginning of something much bigger than I ever imagined.
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Each year, My goal gets higher, hoping to reach more kids!
2014 - 12 backpacks
2015 - 20 backpacks
2016 - 25 backpacks
2017 - 32 backpacks
2018 - 132 backpacks
**I teamed up with a local friend that gathers and distributes supplies as well.
2019 - 177 backpacks
2020 - 150 backpacks
2021 - 113 backpacks
2022 - 181 backpacks
2023 - 294 backpacks
2024 - 403 backpacks
**Thank you Rogers-Otsego-Dayton Women of Today Chapter for ALL your help and support!!
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Growing the Mission
For years, I continued this labor of love, steadily increasing the number of children I could help.
Then, in 2022, with the encouragement of my daughter Braelyn, I decided to reach out to local Facebook groups asking for help with donations of school supplies. The response was overwhelming. With the group effort of twenty or so generous women, we were able to fill 181 backpacks with everything on the supply lists!
In January of 2023, I put up a post on Facebook asking specifically for backpack donations, as these are the single most expensive piece of supplies. It was there that Christina from the Rogers-Otsego-Dayton Women of Today chapter noticed my post and reached out asking for more information on my project. I wanted to spread the word of what I'd been doing for nearly 9 years and realized I had a nameless organization! After speaking about my mission and goals to help more kids this year than ever before, we started thinking of a name. THE BACKPACK SQUAD had a great ring to it. So now we have a name.
It takes a village of people to make my goals and dreams a reality, and I couldn't do it without the help of my SQUAD!
Elk River, MN
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Elk River, Minnesota