STEWARDING YOUR GIFTS, TIME AND PRAYERS TO RAISE UP THE NEXT GENERATION AND IMPACT OUR CITIES. Community Outreach has encouraged and hosted serving opportunities focused on providing school supplies to partnering Title 1 schools for years. But why this continuous focus? According to the American Psychological Association (APA), under-resourced schools in poorer communities struggle to meet the learning needs of their students and aid them in fulfilling their potential (2019). “Learning needs” includes basic classroom supplies for teachers and students. Families living in poverty struggle to afford basic needs such as housing and food. This leaves families in a spending trade-off between housing, food, and necessary items for school and education (“Who We Help”, 2019). Additionally, teachers on average spend nearly $600 per year of personal funds to stock up their classrooms and provide supplies for students (“Who We Help”, 2019). Inadequate education contributes to the cycle of poverty by making it more difficult for low-income children to lift themselves and future generations out of poverty (APA, 2019). By donating and collecting new school supplies, classrooms can be stocked for the school year and students can arrive to school on their first day with the confidence that they will have what they need to complete their school work. There are many items that children need to be the prepared as they begin a new school year and some of the most important ones are items you don’t even think of. Many children just need the basics: socks, underwear, personal hygiene items, feminine hygiene products and school supplies. These are just a few items that most of us provide almost thoughtlessly for our own children. As we build deeper relationships in our community through love and service, we can have deeper conversations about the real needs of our children. Get your kids involved and start collecting these items throughout the summer. Invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to join you in helping our kids be ready to go back to school. For more information on how to host a drive go to perimeter.org/backtoschool. BACK TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN We want to be involved in the lives of students starting from the earliest stages of life all the way to adulthood. Not only do we want to support their needs as they start off the school year but we want to provide continual care and support throughout the entire year as well. We are passionate about early childhood development that will lay a foundation for the rest of their lives. When we walk with children from the beginning to provide developmental support we are impacting not only their immediate needs but we are also impacting them in a way that extends into their future. We want to see children thrive at every age and grow into individuals who will invest in their community and live healthy flourishing lives. Throughout the summer you can find ways to serve children when they are out of school through the opportunities listed in this guide. There are bookmobiles, summer lunch programs, summer camps, VBS, summer school programs and so many ways to make an impact this summer. Or help us get critically needed items into the classrooms and into homes of children so they can be set up for success. BACKPACK AND SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE JULY 14 – AUGUST 4 Grab a yellow bag in the lobbies after church and fill it up with the items from the school supply list. If you would rather let our bargain shoppers shop for you, donate $20 and we will fill the backpack for you. To donate to our back to school campaign go to perimeter.org/backtoschool SUMMER SERVE & LEARN DAY JULY 20 School starts back August 5th, so bring your children, friends or neighbors and join us at Perimeter for our summer serve day and our 9th annual Back-To-School Backpack Packing Party. This year we will have projects onsite, offside and a variety of equipping classes offered throughout the morning. Help us get backpacks, school supplies and basic need items ready to distribute to our non–profit partners and school partners, so that every child who needs a backpack this year will have one. For more information or to sign up go to perimeter.org/serveday. Begins June 1 Host a Back to School Supply or Basic Needs Drive INVEST: 27 INVEST PERIMETER.ORG/SUMMERSERVING 26 INVEST PERIMETER.ORG/SUMMERSERVING