Welcoming with backpacks

​Thank you for partnering with Festival of Sharing to collect Welcome Backpacks for Church World Service! The kit collection happened Friday night through Saturday morning of Annual Conference and 89 backpacks were shared. CWS representatives Matt Stevens and Leonard Blue, as well as Ferncliff Warehouse representative, Rebecca Roetzel were present for the collection and celebration. The backpacks were taken back to the Ferncliff Warehouse near Little Rock, Arkansas to be prepared for shipment across the United States as CWS responds to and supports refugees and asylum seekers in their resettlement journeys. The backpacks include essential items such as healthy snacks, a reusable water bottle, a few basic hygiene items, a blanket and more. This kit stands out a little more compared to others that CWS collects because of the character of the different backpacks and water bottles. Each person who receives a backpack and its contents can feel the love and support that went in to picking out the backpack and packing it with care.
CWS currently collects Welcome Backpacks all year round. If you would like to join this effort, you can pack a kit and turn it in at any of the Sharefest events this fall, or you can visit cwsglobal.org/donate/welcome-backpacks/ to donate $75 for a backpack to be assembled. For more information, please contact Sidney at 573-474-3332 or festival@socket.net.