so, i got to thinking the other night while i was wondering around my local walmart picking up paper towels and the like… seriously, i sometimes look *forward* to buying household supplies as an excuse to get out for awhile… in the seasonal aisle at the store all of the back to school supplies were being stocked.  how can that be?  wasn’t it just july 4th?  wasn’t the summer supposed to last forever?  i guess some parts of the country do literally go back to school at the beginning of august (we here in new england don’t go back until around labor day) but i guess that means parents can start planning ahead. 

i then saw a little girl with her mom and a “school supply list.”  we never had those as a kid, but just in passing, i noticed there had to be about 40 things on there!  the poor mom was going a bit insane… and then i noticed she had two other daughters with her!  wow… that’s a lot of school supplies!

as i was packing up the car, i started to think what my life will be like in a couple of years.  two school supply lists, two new backpacks, two new lunch boxes… two new “oh-i-must-have-that” wardrobes.  better start saving!  what about those kids whose parents can’t afford all of these supplies?  are those kids left in the dust without the fanciest graphing calculator?  i recently saw this story… what about those families… especially in this economy!

i was so glad, then, to find that i am honored to be one of 50 bloggers who had the opportunity to bag it forward this summer.

this is a great idea.  while you are shopping for your other items in the store or even your own supplies pick up a few extra for someone who can’t buy supplies for their children.  (just an aside, if you are looking to get the most for your donation, i have to say that walmart was a great place to start!  they had amazing back to school prices (hi, a notebook for 15 cents!  not kidding!) 

can’t get to the store right now?  well, there’s one thing you can do to make an impact right this minute (ok, and maybe tomorrow morning too if that works better) 

help elmer’s help adopt-a-classroom

helping classrooms in need this back to school season is as easy as 1 – 2 – 3

1.  write a post about this charity blog meme

2. send a virtual bag of school supplies to another blogger and challenge them to join the #bagitforward movement

3. link up your post at bagitforward.org

sweet!  elmer’s just donated $10 for your post to adopt-a-classroom!

ok, so here are the details of the program again:

elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to adopt-a-classroom with your participation. join now!

the elmer’s virtual bag it forward is charity blog meme, where bloggers can raise $10 per blog post for Adopt-A-Classroom (simply by writing a blog post and donating a virtual bag of school supplies), up to $10,000.

 you can give as many virtual bags as you want.  the elmer’s virtual bag it forward will officially begin at 12a est 7/22/10 and ends at 12p est 8/12/10.  the blog post link has to be submitted in the comment section below for your participation to be counted.

wait. what?  what do i do?  can you just give me something to copy and paste into my blog to make it easy?  why sure!  here you go… copy and paste the following text into your blog post:

elmer’s virtual bag it forward rules:

• copy and paste these rules into your blog post
• create a blog post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your back to school shopping trip (or trip to pick out your latest sunglasses or socks or exercise equipment) 
• link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies
• let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag
• leave your link in the elmer’s virtual bag it forward comment section. you can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.
• elmer’s is donating $10 for each blog participating in the virtual bag it forward donation to adopt-a-classroom (up to total of $10,000 for blog posts written by august 12, 2010).
• please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.

i’m sending my virtual bag to caryanne at “about the small stuff” and am challenging her to #bagitforward with elmer’s!