Buckets to Backpacks

08/05/2025

Hey friends,

We’re back in Colorado today, but we wanted to give an update. We said we were going to Hunt, TX and we did. The gift cards were delivered.

But this is a somber update.

I’ll share a couple of pictures, but the truth is we didn’t want to take many while there.

The damage…is unfathomable. Truly.

When we first tried to make it to Hunt, we ended up redirected south due to road closures. It was an incredibly long detour, but the result was that we came up through Kerrville.

Kerrville was haunting as soon as the river basin was visible. The debris and wide swath of the flood is…stunning. There are no words. That said, a large part of the City of Kerrville, apart from the affected flood areas, was much like I remembered it. However, some bridges are out, parks along the Guadalupe are closed, and there’s an ominous feeling as you continue driving north.

Outside Ingram was a checkpoint — dozens of police, volunteers, agencies, businesses, and heavy equipment are there — the staging only acting as a gateway to what we would see as we drove up to Hunt.

…truly I do not have words for what we saw. The mangled steel from bridges and guardrails—cars—canoes—household appliances—houses…and the river’s debris.

I think the only thing we could say out loud to one another was, “My god…”

The town of Hunt was unrecognizable to me. It wasn’t like Kerrville. I recognized nothing. Had Michael not been navigating to The Hunt Store, I wouldn’t have discerned where it was supposed to be.

This is going to be an incredibly long recovery process, and we hope to continue to help in ways they can identify for us. Whether that’s simply having us give our time, refilling their supplies, or directing whatever Colorado can offer to their community.

We still want to help. And they still need help. Right now, in the coming weeks, and in the months ahead.

If you’re still hoping to help, let us know. We’ll find a community organization or organizer to assist.

For now — Thank you, Colorado Springs. No matter how small, I firmly believe every little thing we do creates an impact. Our mission is to provide continuous impact — to not forget communities impacted by disaster just because the headlines have faded.

💚

08/03/2025

Hey friends! Michael Persell has an update for you on our trip to Texas!

07/31/2025

Hey friends!

It’s been an INSANE month of incredible people helping us do incredible things.

We’re loading up now and SOMEHOW still doing inventory on items we just picked up today. A whole car load!

Just want to share a huge shout out to our friends and partners in this whirlwind of wonderful.

This absolutely would not have been possible without the incredibly kind and generous folks over at The Chuckwagon 719 — who partnered with us, hosted drive days two weekends in a row, and collected donations every day in between and since. 🖤

Another huge shout out to the Colorado Springs businesses that opened their doors to take donations across the city:

- Fallen Heroes Tattoo & Piercing
- Revolution Jewelry Works
- My Cellar Wine Bar

And of course Soapbox Marketing for getting so many wonderful people on board with us. 🖤

We’ve packed and inventoried 75+ boxes with at least another 5 to go tonight.

Plus cases of water
Plus 150+ backpacks
Plus 10+ gift cards for Hunt, TX students

We’ll take you guys along for the ride tomorrow if you feel like following along — from Colorado with love.

❤️

07/23/2025

Hi friends!

We are just 9 days away from our trip down to Central Texas and we have collected SO many donations!

However, we’re still hoping to get a few more.

KOAA 5 stopped by yesterday for a quick chat to find out what we’re hoping for in this last big push. (I’ll link the story to this post 😉)

But here’s a list of our main donations we are hoping for before we head down:

- Backpacks!
- Gift Cards for Hunt ISD students
- Diapers
- Cleaning supplies

Remember — we have an Amazon Wishlist that you can order from and we DO have gift cards for Hunt available for purchase there: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2PQ5E0WN8MFZK?ref_=wl_share

Check out our latest story! And don’t forget about our partner businesses who are STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS through the 31st!

- The Chuckwagon 719
- Revolution Jewelry Works
- Fallen Heroes Tattoo & Piercing
- My Cellar Wine Bar

The 'Buckets to Backpacks' donation drive is still going strong in Colorado Springs. Now through July 31, you can contribute.

07/18/2025

Hey friends!

Remember — tomorrow is our BIG drive for supplies and donations headed to Central Texas.

Yes, we still have other drop-off locations at our wonderful partner businesses through the end of the month, but we’re also hoping for a HUGE turnout tomorrow at The Chuckwagon 719!

Thank you for how amazing you’ve made this effort so far, Colorado Springs. You have truly shown this Texan how much Colorado cares.

❤️

07/18/2025

Hi friends,

I wanted to tell you a little bit about why this organization is called “Buckets to Backpacks.”

In one of these pictures you’ll just see me, at 26, freshly homeless after Hurricane Harvey destroyed my apartment and most everything in it. I was fine though. My kids were fine. We had family to stay with.

But as a bartender, I didn’t have much to do with my time, because my bar was closed. We had no electricity.

That’s when I decided to go and volunteer with a local company that was feeding people around the clock, 24/7. And I noticed that donations were starting to pour in — taking much of this restaurant’s dry storage space. So I volunteered to take on the task of sorting and distributing much-needed supplies. At first, it was driving around to local hotels and shelters with a truck bed full of diapers, connecting with people on Facebook, and becoming the local “clean butt” distributor.

Then I got overwhelmed…very overwhelmed. I was taking on so many donations that I had to assemble a team to help me. We hosted distributions almost daily for the first two weeks.

And then…the donations stopped coming. You can see the contrast in the second set of pictures, where we were down to nothing. People were still calling me. Still texting. Still asking if I could help them find resources they needed. But I couldn’t. I had nothing left to give them. It was all gone…

There were little-to-no donations coming in just three weeks after my town was ravaged by the storm.

And that’s how “Buckets to Backpacks” was born.

I didn’t want to rush down to Texas as these communities were dealing with thousands upon thousands of pounds of donated disaster recovery supplies. I wanted to look ahead. Just one month after the floods, these kiddos who lost everything will still need to go back to school and still be working through the trauma of everything that’s happened. The local organizations will be emptied of supplies that were already difficult to come by.

In essence, it’s a flash flood of support…and then the headlines dry up…and so do the donations.

And that’s the gap we’re working to fill. One month later, people will still need help. Those kids will still need new backpacks, school supplies, school clothes — and their families may still need help getting dinner on the table.

I know that the lives lost will never be forgotten, and I know so many organizations are working hard to help Central Texas communities recover — but I also know how hard it is to maintain that support.

Continuous Community Impact.

It’s our more than a mission — it’s our promise.

❤️

07/16/2025

Wow!

A huge thank you to our new Colorado Springs sponsor companies who are so graciously accepting donations!

- Fallen Heroes Tattoo & Piercing
- My Cellar Wine Bar
- Revolution Jewelry Works

All made possible by Soapbox Marketing who so KINDLY offered to help us get the word out and find local companies who wanted to get involved!

Remember - We have another donation event at The Chuckwagon 719 THIS Saturday from noon to 5PM!

You can also join in by taking a look at our Amazon Wishlist -- which we update every day with new items being requested from our partner organizations in Texas.

WISHLIST - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2PQ5E0WN8MFZK?ref_=wl_share

Thank you, Colorado Springs!

07/15/2025

Hi friends!

I said I would update you on what we’ve gathered following our first event at The Chuckwagon 719 this past Saturday.

Remember, we still have another event NEXT Saturday (July 19th) and we’re open to collections from outside of Colorado Springs through our Amazon Wishlist.

➡️ https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2PQ5E0WN8MFZK?ref_=wl_share

That being said…WOW!

📌 Total Collection Metrics
- 5,526 individual items (including bulk school supplies) collected!
- 43 Boxes Packed!
- 54 Backpacks!
- 1,457 School supplies gathered!
- 264 non-perishable food items!
- $175 in cash donations!
- 3 Gift Cards for Hunt ISD students so far!

Our goals for the second week of collections is (hopefully) to double that!

📌 Our priorities for the second drive THIS UPCOMING Saturday:
- Backpacks
- Gift Cards (check the wishlist!)
- Cleaning supplies
- Non-perishable food items
- Diapers (of any size)
- Pet Food
- NEW REQUEST - Sports equipment

Thanks so much to our friends and Colorado Springs for showing up for Texas.

❤️



✨🐾 A special shoutout to our inventory volunteers over the past two days. They’re not very helpful but they sure are excited to be involved. 🐾✨

07/14/2025

Hey friends!

I’m so thankful for y’all. You have no idea. And I want you to know that any donation you make is tax deductible. We are ✨officially✨ a tax ID-bearing organization.

The reason I say this is because I know we are ALL dealing with inflation.

That’s why I made this organization. I wanted to be able to offer people a way to support and still KNOW their contributions are going into the hands of people in need.

Yes, we are small right now. But we are growing fast. And I want to be a true collective of people making impact on communities that need continuous support. That’s my mission!

P.S. If you know me — you know that tattoo of Texas on my right arm in the picture, was one I got after Harvey. It says (VTX) because Victoria, TX was my home, and I spent weeks organizing for my community. I don’t want to forget that time because I learned so very much alongside my friends.

We’re going to keep going, and I hope you can help us. Even if you can’t give, share our mission! That will make a world of difference.

From Colorado, back home to Texas. We are all ❤️

07/14/2025

Hi friends!

You probably already know a little bit about our mission but let’s recap.

As the need has grown, so has our purpose.

We’re gathering supplies and donations to take to Central Texas, and as of today, we have partnered with four different community organizations down there — and we’ll be headed down August 1-3.

However, our goal is to continue. As the headlines disappear, so does the surplus of donations.

We’re focused on backpacks and school supplies for all of the communities impacted, as those kiddos head back to school even as their families take on the tremendous task of rebuilding their homes and lives.

But that’s not all you can donate to help…

For Hunt ISD in Hunt, TX, we’re gathering gift cards for the students affected.

For the Concho Valley United Way, we’re gathering non-perishables, cash donations, diapers & wipes, and of course…school supplies.

For Williamson County, we’re gathering non-perishables, cash donations, and school supplies.

For San Saba — well…things are changing again due to today’s flooding and their needs may be changing. But we’re going to keep you updated.

If you’d like to reach out to learn more about us, see how you can partner or sponsor our mission, or just need to ask how you can donate, send us a message or you can email us.

[email protected]

I’ve got an Amazon Wishlist that is updated daily with requests from various organizations and what they need.

➡️ https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2PQ5E0WN8MFZK?ref_=wl_share

Follow us to keep up with our journey down south and please follow our partners at The Chuckwagon 719 who have so graciously offered us a venue, support in transport, and so much more. ❤️