The temperature might have dropped this week, but Lisa Anderson, executive director of Vernon’s Upper Room Mission, says “thankfully”, the number of backpack donations rose — just in time.
As of Wednesday, the URM had received roughly 138 backpacks to give out during their annual Christmas dinner. Fortunately, Anderson said by the end of the week, Vernon residents came through, as “they do every year,” providing volunteers with a total of 330 backpacks to hand out after the dinner on Friday night.
During the dinner, volunteers fed more than 200 people.
The Fill-A-Backpack Campaign runs each year before the holidays and provides hundreds of people in need with some extras and essentials in a backpack they can carry with them. The Upper Room Mission will accept backpack donations all year, to learn more, click here
Items suggested for donation include:
- Warm gloves, scarf, and/or toque
- Hand Warmers
- New Socks
- Small notepad & pens
- Flashlight
- Toiletry items (Travel size is best): shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, Kleenex, Band-Aids, First-Aid kit, chapstick, etc.
- Hard candies
Erin
Christie
Morning Star Staff
@VernonNews
erin.christie@vernonmorningstar.com
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