Upstate Backpack Blessings

05/26/2026

Summer Break and End of School Year 2025 - 2026!

Greetings,
We send our heartfelt gratitude that we are continuing to be able to accomplish the Mission that is in front of us. We are Blessed by love, care and support from so many wonderful Brothers and Sisters as well as multiple staunchly faithful supporting Churches!

We were supported in an increased measure by multiple food drives held by different Schools, persons, neighborhoods and local companies.
Of particular note, 12 of our 21 schools stepped into the support role for us providing more than $22,000 of food items.

Additionally, we collected more than 2,000 jars of peanut butter and distributed them at 4 junctures throughout the school year at a nominal value of $5,500. We also have been gifted enough to send out a jar to every student at the beginning of the next school year.

During this semester we added an additional school to our Mission, bringing our total to 21.
We packed and delivered 8,764 supplemental food bags.
These bags total more than 43,800 pounds of food items.
We averaged 457 bags per week.

A significant change we made is that any food that we absolutely cannot use for our Mission is passed to the Canebrake Fire Department, which they use to restock and supply the "Blessing Boxes or Compassion Pantries" that are collocated with their stations.

We continue to be supported by a true cadre of Volunteers. Our current total of regular/repeating volunteers is 40 with additional personnel coming from Ft. Inn High School students.

We also hosted 9 Groups on various occasions from a variety of types and locations such as WMU, Mission Minded Women, various Sunday Schools, Greenville County Schools, and Church Youth Groups.

For the overall School Year of 2025-26:
15,560 Bags Packed and Delivered.
63,740 Pounds of Food
457 Children's Lives affected weekly (avg.)

Goals:
Remain where we are located physically.
Increase visibility by speaking engagements.
Create a third packing crew to facilitate less wear and tear on volunteers
and to allow more outside groups to come in thus increasing community awareness.

05/17/2026

The Staff and Volunteers here at Upstate Backpack Blessings wish to express our deepest heart-felt sympathy to one of our long-term Volunteers Amber Lamont and her Family in the loss of her Husband Chief Petty Officer Steven Lamont USNR (Ret.) . Our Thoughts and Prayers are with Amber and her Family during this difficult transition time. 🇺🇸

04/29/2026

And, to round out the month of April, another of our Long-time friends at Greenville ARP Church sent word that they had gathered us up some peanut butter!We said yes, we will be there! They provided us with just shy of 200 jars of peanut butter which combined with Burn Boot Camp and several other of ourPartners made it completely possible for the Children to get a jar of peanut butter for the first bag in May which they will get on the 6th. We Love being part ofan enormous Caring Community! Thank you So Very Much!

04/29/2026

Later that week... we had a group of ladies from Fork Shoals Baptist Church WMU Mission Group come and visit. We are Blessed to have long term Partnerships with a number of Churches and Groups of people, and they are one of those. We refer to them as 'Walking Partners!' They toured the Facility and Gifted us with
a Generous amount of Food. Thanks for Walking with Us so patiently and so caring!

04/29/2026

The next day...after several emails and phone texts, Pastor Matt Yon and a group of his Church members from Fountain Inn Methodist Church came to tour the Facility and gain first-hand experience of Our Mission. They stepped right into our work and packed more than 300 supplemental food bags for us to distribute to our Students. One major note about them... Earlier in March, Pastor Matt and his Church had provided us with enough peanut
butter for EVERY Child we Serve to get a jar EACH for Spring Break.
You All are AMAZING! We look forward to being Partners with You All for a Long Time!

04/29/2026

Later in April Youth Pastor Anthony McCaleb brought a group of Youth from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church for a
Saturday Service project. They joyfully and with 'high-energy' packed 140 bags for us and 'double-stuffed' more than 500 plastic bags which were used immediately to pack bags for our Students For delivery the next week.

We are truly grateful for PGBC. Their incredible Continuing Support and Care is Amazing. Pleasant Grove Baptist Church graciously provides space for our Facility along with a secure place to store our food which we are deeply grateful for. 💖

04/29/2026

Also In April, we were Tremendously Blessed to be contacted by Allison Schleuger of Burn Boot Camp in Simpsonville. She had heard of us and wanted to know more about our organization and how they could provide support for us.
We agreed to the idea of doing a Food Drive focussed on Peanut Butter! An amazing couple of weeks later we were able to collect more than 70 jars of peanut butter!
Those jars in conjunction with several other Community Partners will go out the door to our Students in May! We are thrilled to meet a new Partner and look forward to working with Allison and her staff and Clients in the Future. To find out more about Burn Boot Camp, follow this link. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076036808647 (Burn Boot Camp Simpsonville)

Huge Thank YOU ALL to Allison and her Staff and Clients!

04/29/2026

Early in April, Carmella Billingsley contacted us. She is from Dr. Robert M. Rogers Dermatology. They provided us with a very generous donation of hygiene and self-care products which we were able to sort and send out to more than 130 Middle and High School Students. Thank you Very Much for thinking about us, and we are so glad to make a new acquaintance and partnership! We love being part of COMMUNITY.

01/25/2026

Good Morning Upstate Friends! It's HERE!
In the interest of SAFETY and Well-Being, we are Closed until Further Notice. We are aware of our Commitment to provide and deliver Our Supplemental Food Bags, we will accomplish this when it is Safe to Do So! Please Be Safe and Stay Warm!
Blessings on you ALL
H Pickard Director.

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01/05/2026

The Staff and Volunteers here at Upstate Backpack Blessings, wish to express our deepest heart-felt condolences to one of our long-term Volunteers Nancy Terry in the loss of her Husband Rodger PD Terry . Our Thoughts and Prayers are with Nancy and her Family during this challenging difficult transition time.

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