Time to Start Planning Another Backpack Collection Trip!

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know the Sowers4Pastors year is split into three categories: 1) pre-backpack planning season, 2) backpack collection season, 3) backpack distribution season. It’s not that they aren’t working on other things, as well, but those other things overlap with the aforementioned backpack seasons. Since this year’s backpacks have been distributed, we are now back to pre-backpack planning season.

Allen and Trish are currently in the process of looking at a map of the U.S. to determine their routes for the next backpack collection season. They know they will be starting off their trip in Seattle and then going to Colorado Springs. The thing is, there are many routes they could take to get from point A to point B. They would love to add some more stops along the way to make that phase of the trip as effective as possible.

If people who sponsor kids are between Seattle and Colorado Springs, the Sowerses will do their best to stop by and pick up backpacks that would otherwise need to be mailed. As Trish said, “We can’t go hours out of our way for a couple of backpacks, but sometimes people encourage others in their church or community to fill backpacks, too. Once there is a larger collection of backpacks in an out-of-the-way location, it becomes possible for us to go out of our way to pick up that sponsor's backpacks.”

If you live anywhere in the continental U.S., and you'd like to head up a backpack drive at your local church, school, homeschool co-op, etc., please contact Allen or Trish! They'd love to add you to their route! (trish at sowers4pastors dot com)

Some things will be different about this year’s cross-country collection drive. The biggest difference is that Russell is going to accompany Allen on part of the trip. Russell and Trish will sort of tag-team the trip, each doing part of it, while Allen will complete the entire journey. That means Trish won’t have to do quite so much of the heavy lifting and Russell’s strong, young back can be put to good use.

There are other advantages to having Russell do part of the trip, as well. Sowers4Pastors is always thinking about the long-term sustainability of the ministry. While Russell is a pro at handling any aspect of the work in Honduras, he has not yet had the opportunity to experience the work on the U.S. side. This will give him the opportunity to meet people at the churches and develop relationships for his ongoing involvement in Sowers4Pastors.

Allen and Trish already know they are planning to drive to Minnesota on one leg of the trip. The initial purpose of that destination is to pick up Trish’s harp. They will then take the harp to Chicago for maintenance and repairs. As long as they’re going, they would love to have some backpack stops lined up along the way. They are flexible about the route and could possibly visit churches in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.

There’s even some talk of driving as far as Texas this year. They don’t have anything definite lined up yet, but it’s a possibility. They will be more than happy to make that leg of the trip, if they have enough Texans involved in filling backpacks.

Would you like to know more about the backpacks - like how they are used in ministry, what's packed into them, and how you can get involved? We'll, you're in the right place! Here are some links from previous blog posts about the backpack project:

How do backpacks make a difference? 

What goes into each backpack?

What has the backpack project looked like in previous years?

 - posted by Christi