500 Girls off the Street & Into School in Liberia.

At some point, in the City of Bedford, Texas, a person called Sydney S. received a neon-green backpack. Like most people who get free promotional backpacks, Sydney S. probably used it for a little while, at least enough to write his or her name on it, and then moved on to something new or different. If you have ever run a 5k, been to a blood drive, or attended community event sponsored by a radio station/bank/politician there is a chance you have received a bag like Sydney S.’s.

But what happened once Sydney S. didn’t want the bag anymore?

Well, the neon-green bag, along with pounds and pounds of clothes, shoes, backpacks, and other items that are donated to Goodwill, to clothes drives, and dropped off at thrift shops, eventually found its way to Liberia.

Last week, the More than Me team woke up early, went to the West Point Women’s office, and packed 100 backpacks with notebooks, pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, underwear, socks, and crayons.

Packing the bags was as entertaining as it was invigorating; each bag seemed to have its own story, and each one of our girls was starting a new chapter in that tale.

Word travels fast in West Point: by the time we were ready to meet with our 100 girls and take some last minute information (we had already conducted a more thorough survey with the children and their parents or guardians), the street outside the West Point Women’s office was teeming with children and adults. People began selling goods in front of the office, hoping to cash in on the sudden crowd, and not even a brief rain stopped people from showing up.

We brought the girls in by twos, to avoid a backpack bumrush, and let them pick their own bags. 100 girls, 100 bags, and 100 different tastes and styles. Some girls went for the big, pink bags with pictures of Disney characters; others went for the old bags sporting logos for teams they likely had never heard of . And one of our girls, Bendu, dug through the pile and picked up a neon green bag from Bedford, Texas.

Forgotten items are building futures in West Point. Sydney S. probably never imagined that the free neon-green bag he or she had all those years ago would now be proudly worn every day by a girl going to school for the first time. Now, Bendu, and the other 100 girls, are equipped to not just attend school, but participate, take notes, and contribute.

More than Me loves to promote the fact that we are an organization of people coming together, with whatever skills we might have, to change lives. Sometimes, though, people are helping without even realizing it.

Last week, in West Point, Monrovia, a girl named Bendu received a neon-green bag that used to belong to someone named Sydney S. in Bedford, Texas. This is just the beginning of Bendu’s story.

Links:

• Originally Posted on our Blog: Here!

When More than Me joined Global Giving just over one year ago we had a dream of 100 girls in Monrovia, Liberia in school. We didn't have a timeline, and we didn't know if it would be possible. In four weeks three US-based volunteers, including myself, will be traveling to Liberia and assisting in the enrollment of 70 more girls in school, which will bring our total amount of girls enrolled in school to 100.

We wouldn't be there without you.

More than Me is still primarily funded by individual donations. People who have reached out to the organization over the last year and stated their commitment to educational access through small and large donations. We have been amazed at the support from donors and our volunteers who reach out to their networks

More than Me never intended to change the world. We just wanted to change the world for 100 girls.

Now that we have reached our first goal, what is next? Our volunteer team is already discussing next steps; maintaining future schooling for our current students, expanding our program to include other educational initiatives including sexual education, nutrition, and disease transmission, and expanding into a Safe House for girls who are streetworkers or orphaned.

You can follow our trip to Liberia starting in August on our blog: http://morethanme.org/blog/

We would love to hear from you too. What do you think is important as we expand the services our program offers?

You can always continue to help our program by signing up for recurring donations or simply sharing our message.