
***UPDATE, September 22nd***
As we close in on backpack number 4,000… that’s right, almost 4,000 backpacks delivered through Operation BackPack4Kids… we cannot rest on our accomplishments. There are still hundreds of thousands of refugee children displaced in Europe. We are in this for the long haul. Running a legitimate, vetted nonprofit requires the energy of a third grader, and the wisdom of a elderly statesman. BP4K has both, otherwise we would have folded shop months ago.
Be rest assured the money, supplies, time, and prayers you have provided this organization have not gone to waste. We continue to be laser focused, working with our trusted partners that we depend on to deliver our backpacks. Because of this, we can see the results of our work. Close to 4,000 children have been given a small glimpse of love and compassion by you, through Operation BackPack4Kids.
Children have a much different method of processing their emotions. Anxiety, pain, and loneliness are constant for the refugee children we are helping. Many of them have not seen their fathers or male family members since the beginning of the war. Many are with their elderly grandparents, and others have no one but another sibling. The situations these children find themselves are harsh, and very hard. But we must remember, they are still children.
The latest delivery of backpacks made their way to Pervomaisk. A medium size city in central Ukraine where thousands of children and the elderly from Eastern Ukraine have fled to avoid the fighting. We know it’s difficult to see these photos without asking the obvious questions. Our volunteers have worked thousands of hours this year trying to help as many children as possible, and we too ask ‘why’. Here are several photos of children in a safe house who recently received a backpack. In the midst of sadness, loneliness, and confusion, they are smiling. They are smiling like it is Christmas morning.
And these smiles, these happy faces, and the brightness shining through their eyes… It happened because of people like you. People who give their time and money so we can give them backpacks full of love.
Enjoy the photos, and as always, thank you for everything you have made possible. In a hundred years we never thought we would give away 1,000 backpacks, and now we are almost at 4,000.

