Our #SwipeItForGood Partner of the Month for November is Bags of Blessings. To learn more about their organization and the resources they provide for the community, we interviewed their Treasurer, Michelle Painter.
Founded in 2011, Bags of Blessings was created to fill a local holiday need.
“United Way reached out to the Bread of Life food pantry to help provide Christmas presents to 75 children in Kanawha County. The first few years, Bags of Blessings operated under the food pantry. In 2014, Bags of Blessings became its own entity,” explained Painter.
Bags of Blessings provides not only toys at Christmas time for the children of Kanawha County, but they also collect shoes and coats.
“We make sure every kid that needs a coat gets a new one.“
This year, Element FCU will be assisting in their efforts by hosting a drive on November 14th for toys, coats, and cash donations and a coat drive on Black Friday. Each individual who donates at least one coat to our Get a Little; Give a Little Black Friday drive at the Element branch in South Charleston will receive a stocking stuffed with multiple prizes!
The pandemic has made fundraising quite a challenge this year for many organizations. Bags of Blessings was forced to cancel their annual vendor sale to protect their supporters, but there are numerous ways you can still support their efforts this holiday season.
“We are always looking for sponsors. Sponsors receive the name and age of a child, as well as a list of toy choices and shoe and clothing sizes. The sponsor buys the items and returns them to Bags of Blessings prior to the due date. We also take monetary donations and do the shopping ourselves. Another great way people can help is by donating new toys, coats, clothes, and shoes.”
You can learn more about Bags of Blessings and supporting them through #SwipeItForGood here.