By Cindy Adams
It starts with a small, but mighty, group of people who say, "We can help." And in less than 90 minutes, the lives of 248 students are a little brighter.
The hands that first unzip the black and neon-green backpack fill it with pens, pencils, notebooks, markers and, most importantly, genuine care for an unknown child.
"It may come through our hands, but it’s God’s work," explained Scott Guebert, pastor of Holy Trinity in Martinsville, Virginia.
His 40-member congregation understands that each pack they handle will be delivered to a child who needs a little support. So, the black and neon-green backpack, along with the others, is lovingly loaded in a truck destined for Roanoke. There, it is transferred into a vehicle headed for Richmond, its final stop, where it is received with great enthusiasm by enCircle staff who know the difference a simple backpack can make for a student.
Before long, the black and neon-green backpack is in the hands of a case manager who carefully selected it for its Xbox logo. He knew this would matter for the student he was going to see. It would matter big.
"I will never forget how a small gesture can make the biggest difference," said Dennis Pinto, enCircle case manager. "The sheer excitement from this middle school child when I said, 'this backpack is for you,' was astounding. It was as if I had gifted him with Disney World tickets."
For some students, this is the pack they carry when they enter school in the United States for the first time. For other students, this is the pack that helps them blend in with their peers. For this particular student, this black and neon-green Xbox pack was the key to an unstoppable school year.
"On my next visit, when I asked about the first day of school, he promptly told me how much he loved and appreciated his backpack," Dennis said. "Then he went on to tell me how he was learning to play the flute, selling cookies for a fundraiser, and discovering that science is his new favorite class."
The black and neon-green backpack started in the hands of someone who cared, journeyed through the hands of others who cared, and landed in the hands of a young boy who deeply cared.
