Amber Huddleston, J.L. Jones second grade teacher, is heading up a project to help meet the needs of some of the school’s students. The Blessings in a Backpack program is part of a bigger ministry of Initial Outfitters.
Some students at J.L. Jones Elementary will get a helping hand through a ministry that will provide the little things most people take for granted.
Second grade teacher Amber Huddleston chose students at J.L. Jones to fill up a backpack with crayons, toothbrushes, toothpaste, snacks, soaps, a brush and other items to help a child in need through the Backpack Love project. It is part of a bigger ministry, Blessings in a Backpack, a philanthropic project through Initial Outfitters, she said.
“I see it everyday,” she said. “I don’t know that everyone is aware of the hardships children in Minden have to face every day. We did the Angel Tree for the Christmas gifts for the children, and I realized so many children come to school with no backpacks. They come to school without anything, and some of them, the only meals they are getting are at school.”
Her hope is to get enough sponsorships to give the students in need an embroidered backpack filled with things they need.
“This something I’ve wanted to do, and I see these children every day,” she said. “It would just mean a lot to do it here.”
Sponsorships are $25 per backpack, which includes the purchase of the backpack and enough funding to fill it up. Any food items will need to be unwrapped and nonperishable, she said.
Jones is a Title I school, which means the majority of its students are on the free or reduced lunch program. The school has about 500 students, and the project will be for students chosen in the second and third grade.
For anyone who wishes to sponsor a student’s backpack, call Huddleston at the school at 377-1815, or email her at [email protected]. To sponsor a child through PayPal, email to [email protected].