NEWS RELEASE


For information contact:
Jim Lewis, CEO – Long Beach Rescue Mission
Brad Fieldhouse, Executive Director – Kingdom Causes
Jesse Krohmer, Associate Director – Long Beach Rescue Mission

For immediate release

Backpack Program Invests In The Future Of Long Beach

Long Beach – As school approaches quickly, stores are full of parents buying new clothes, backpacks and school supplies for their kids.  Unfortunately, many families are not.

This year, just like last year and the year before it, many students throughout Long Beach won’t have the necessary supplies to do their schoolwork.  Because of this, they’re not getting the kind of education that will allow them to succeed long-term.

Long Beach Rescue Mission doesn’t want to see a lack of resources keep anyone from succeeding in life.  That’s why they’ve joined forces with several other groups to try to raise over 2000 backpacks filled with supplies for the coming school year.  Kingdom Causes and Academic Uprise have joined the effort to hand backpacks filled with school supplies to several Long Beach schools.

“As a homeless shelter, we’re constantly working to provide people the means to help themselves succeed.  What better way to equip people for success in this world than through a quality education?” says Jim Lewis, President/CEO of Long Beach Rescue Mission.

Brad Fieldhouse, Executive Director of Kingdom Causes, a local non-profit aimed at community transformation, has spent some time doing his own homework.  “Long Beach has great schools and committed educators, but kids can’t perform when they don’t have the tools for success.  These kids represent Long Beach 20 years from now.  We’re inviting people to help us invest in the future of Long Beach.”

While many of us think of purchasing school supplies as a simple, yearly ritual, for some families it’s a major source of stress.  They simply can’t afford the paper, pens, pencils, folders, let alone a new backpack!

The backpacks will be given directly to schools that have been identified as having at-risk students.  “Instead of us trying to figure out who needs the backpacks and who doesn’t, we’re going to give them to the people who work with these students every day,” says Jesse Krohmer, Associate Director of the Rescue Mission.  “A lot of people in the greater Long Beach community are excited to help our schools and our students.  But we definitely need more help.”

Help can come in the form of a donation of a backpack filled with supplies.   For more information, go to Long Beach Rescue Mission’s website (www.lbrm.org) or call Jenn at (562) 591-1292 ext. 10.  Checks can also be sent directly to the Rescue Mission (P.O. Box 1969, Long Beach, CA 90801).  Please designate all gifts for “backpack drive” in the memo section. 


>> BACK TO MAIN NEWS DIRECTORY