FPC member Leigh Jones
My name is Leigh Jones and for the past 8 years, I have had the pleasure of serving on the volunteer staff at BackPack Beginnings in the role of Clothing Pantry Chair. Children and youth from First Presbyterian Church have volunteered at BPB for over 10 years assembling food bags and comfort backpacks as well as sorting food. I first became involved with the organization chaperoning these groups and still enjoy working with FPC children and youth volunteers on a regular basis. Now it is your turn!
I really hope that you will come out to BackPack Beginnings for our FPC volunteer workday on Monday, January 27. This is part of our 200th celebration and more specifically honors our church’s commitment to community outreach and our community partners.
January 27 is a GCS Teacher Workday, so we are offering a morning session for children age 5 and older accompanied by parents/grandparents as well as teens 16 and up. This group can expect to work on packing food bags and sorting food donations, as well as restocking the Family Market. We will also have an adult group in the afternoon and this group may work on food, sorting and hanging clothing donations, and other various mission-driven tasks.
Sign up here! (If you can’t come, please drop off these items in the Welcome Center: new boys underwear in sizes 6, 8, and 10; canned fruit in pop-top cans; and breakfast items such as full-sized oatmeal and cereal boxes, oatmeal packets, and granola bars.)
Tours will be included with both sessions, so please join us to see this amazing organization in action! In particular, you will see our Family Market which opened in late spring of 2022. This market offers families the dignity of choice and the opportunity to shop for basic necessities in a welcoming environment staffed almost entirely by volunteers. The Family Market program has grown exponentially and currently serves over 900 families per month.
Executive Director Parker White founded BackPack Beginnings in 2010 literally out of her dining room with a few donations of food and $8,000 in cash from family and friends. Her aim was to help the over 23% of children in Guilford County experiencing food insecurity. Bags of food that bridge the weekend gap for children receiving subsidized breakfast/lunch at school are still the foundation of this program.
However, over the past 14 years, BackPack Beginnings has grown into a multiprogram organization currently serving over 25,000 children annually with not only food, but also other basic necessities including clothing, diapers, books, hygiene products, and even toys! FPC member Allison Cochrane has been part of the volunteer staff from the start and works closely with Parker as her Development Director.
NONE of this growth would have been possible without countless corporate and community partnerships in Guilford County providing resources and volunteer hours. First Presbyterian Church is just one of these many partners. Thank you for your support!
