Like I'm sure many of you, I'm thinking how fast this summer has sped by. I mean, here we are in August already! June, July -- where did you go and why did you have to go there so fast?!? Now I'm feeling the pressure to wrap up my summer to-do list before Fall comes knocking on the door.
One of the things I wanted to do this summer was have my nephew, Landon, visit for a few days. He starts school very soon (eeks! - like next Thursday) so Saturday I'll be picking him up and bringing him home with me. So excited to be able to look at the world through a 12 year old again for a few days!
With school starting for so many kiddos, it makes me remember when Ian was young and the first day of school was approaching. We had to start paying closer attention to bedtimes and wake up routines. Anyone doing that now with their kids?
Long gone for me are the days of shopping for new school supplies and clothes. Buying all the crayons, markers and notebooks was something Ian and I truly enjoyed doing together and it was usually topped off with a trip for ice cream. Which brings me to another thing I'm thinking out loud about today -- school supplies and how many children walk in on the first day with nothing.
Well, there's an organization in St. Louis helping to put a stop to that! Since opening in 2002, KidSmart has distributed over $38 million in free school supplies to 129,000 local kids in need. That's a lot of kids guys! And a lot of grateful teachers!
KidSmart is having a school supply drive the entire month of August called Push for Pencils. Taking the words straight from KidSmart:
KidSmart’s Push for Pencils, the largest drive of its kind in Missouri, is a community-wide school supply drive which takes place each August. The movement is grassroots and includes more than 150 participating businesses, 50,000+ employees and individuals throughout our community. Each year, 500,000 essential school supplies are collected, and then directly distributed, to tens of thousand of local children through the KidSmart Free Educational Supply Store. More than 90,000 local, school-aged children live in poverty and often attend school without basic supplies. Supporters of this campaign believe that every child deserves a chance to have the learning tools and educational experiences they need to succeed in school and thus throughout life.
If you're interested in donating, please click HERE. You can also find out a lot more about this organization on their website.
If you're not from the St. Louis area, my guess is there is something similar in your part of the world. Please consider picking up an extra pack of pencils or box of crayons for the little ones who need them. You never know how this small gesture could change someone's life.
Now it's your turn -- what are you thinking out loud about today? Link up to Thinking Out Loud Thursday with me and Vanessa at X-tremely Vanessa . The rules are simple. Link back to me and Vanessa in your post and add your favorite post(s) below. Super easy! Tell all your friends to link up too. The more the merrier. We'd love for you to follow us too! #ThinkingOutLoudThursdays
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