During another late-night response, we met a six-year-old boy and his family who had just lost their home. When the boy received his BackPack4Kids bag, he immediately pulled out the blanket, wrapped himself in it, and nestled close to his mother. The relief and gratitude on both their faces said more than words ever could.

I am grateful to you for the resupply to our chapter last week.  We provided two backpacks to a family who experienced a home fire in one of our South Carolina counties.  They lost multiple family pets in the fire, so we added an extra snuggly plush to the already generous donation from your team.   Your team enabled us to hand a backpack full of all your donated goodies over to two children.  Thank you so much for supporting communities in disaster!

I want to extend my sincere thanks to William and the entire BackPack4Kids team for bringing this incredible program to the Greater Cincinnati Tri-State Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Our disaster clients have been most grateful for your generous donation of backpacks. In the past several months, we have used the backpacks you previously donated, responding to home fires. The children appreciate the new backpacks and their contents. Would it be possible to consider another donation of two dozen or so backpacks?

My daughter cried when she opened the backpack. She hadn’t smiled like that in days.” We left our home after the hurricane. Everything was gone. When the Red Cross gave us the backpack, it had a blanket, socks, and a little stuffed animal. It meant more than I can explain. Thank you for thinking of families like mine.

We came with nothing but our passports. This gave us a small beginning.” When we arrived in Cologne from Ukraine, a volunteer gave my son a backpack. He had socks, soap, and a coloring book. It was the first kind thing someone did for us since we left home.

The fire took everything. The backpack gave me something back.” Our house burned down in the middle of the night. We didn’t have time to grab anything. At the shelter, someone gave me a backpack with pajamas, a flashlight, and a notebook. I wrote in it every night. It helped me feel safe.

In Blacksburg, a mother and father had recently moved into a small house which they were renting. Their two boys were 12 and 13 years old. The fire started from a space heater. They received two backpacks.

While responding to a residential fire, I learned that two boys, ages six and seven, had been affected. I stopped by the DAT Cave on the way to pick up backpacks for them. When we arrived, the boys were sitting on the front porch with their mother and could not enter the home due to heavy smoke and soot. Their pets had already been taken to a veterinarian. The boys were upset and had little to do while assistance was being provided. The backpacks were given to them immediately. They sat on the sidewalk and began exploring the contents right away, staying engaged and occupied for the rest of the response while we assisted their mother.