Back 2 School Festival

I've been meaning to post about this, but I have been super busy and it's not something I want to do quickly...

So last weekend Bryan and I helped put on the Back 2 School Festival at our church this year. Every year Hope gives out free backpacks full of school supplies to needy families in the area. We see it as a way to minister to the community in a tangible, very appreciated way. This stuff is expensive, and some of these people have a lot of children. One woman I spoke to told me what a great blessing this was for them - she has eight kids in school. And she's a single mother. Whew! Another woman said this was so important she walked for over an hour just to get there. Thank God the weather was nice! I think we gave away over 400 backpacks this year.

It was a really fun day. We had inflatable games (a big obstacle course and bouncy house), carnival games (a football throw and a beanbag toss made by Team Besomason), popcorn, cotton candy, Sno-Cones, face painting, a teen zone with board games and video games, tons of food, and live music in the sanctuary. Families came and got the backpacks, and then just stayed and hung out with us. It really was fun, and it made all of the stressful days leading up to the event totally worth it.

I think the people at the church really enjoy this event every year. Last year it was really our first opportunity to get involved, and it was awesome. This year we had 35 volunteers signed up before the event, and at least 5-10 more show up the day of. In a church of maybe 120, I think that's impressive!

All in all, it was an amazing event. Just wanted to repor