Backpacks For Life Fall Update

As we close out another successful season of Stand Down events, we are in awe of the continued and unwavering support we have received from people far and and wide. What started as something very small just 3 years ago, has quickly becoming something very big but it wouldn’t be possible without those who continue to give back to our veterans.

This Stand Down season, we handed out over 900 backpacks. We attended Stand Downs in Cherry Hill, NJ, Philadelphia, PA and Albany, NY. When we are at these events, we are working with hundreds of veterans throughout the day, providing them with a backpack and getting a chance to talk to them and extend a helping hand.

Veterans who attend Stand Down Events are some of the most positive, kind spirited people we have ever met. We are honored to be in their presence and to serve them. Not only are we serving veterans, but their families as well. We know first hand that when one deploys, their whole family deploys as well. We ensure we are able to help but looking for resources and tools that help the entire family, not just the veteran. We also handed out 50 backpacks to our veterans’ children full of school supplies. We want to continue bridging the gap between veterans and resources so that they and their families can live successful lives.

This Fall, we also participated in many other efforts to support veterans all over the country. We helped connect veterans with AJ Perri, a heating and cooling company, who donated new HVAC systems to 3 veterans in need. We were contacted by two separate veteran organizations in California that were in need of our backpacks, which are en route to both groups as we write this. We worked with countless veterans across the country from North Carolina to Indiana to the Jersey Shore, who were just looking for someone to talk to, someone to guide them and someone to relate to. We were able to provide baby wipes and diapers to a veteran, his wife and newborn daughter, who we first met at last year’s Stand Down in Albany. Seeing them again this year, with a baby in tow, brought us such joy. To know that we could contribute to their well being during a tough time and see them come out the otherwise was truly rewarding.

We are finishing this Fall with a huge fundraiser in partnership with Liquid Church. With 6 campuses across NJ, Liquid Church came together to pack 2,700 backpacks for our veterans. As part of their #LiquidLoveWeek campaign, Liquid Church is donating 10,000 hours of community service to those who need it most – veterans, elderly, special needs children, hurricane victims and many more. We are lucky to have been graced by such kind and caring people who didn’t think twice about packing a backpack for our cause.

As we continue on our mission to serve our veterans and their families we want to thank every person who donated their time, efforts or supplies to Backpacks For Life. We wouldn’t be able to provide veterans with such a great tool for success without the combined efforts of those in our community and around the country.

We have a few more tricks up our sleeves this year as we continue to build our veteran search engine and as always, discovering new and improved ways to #ServeOurVeterans

THANK YOU BFL SUPPORTERS!