The Power of a Backpack: Restoring Dignity, Opening Doors

Each fall, children approach the first day of school with nervous anticipation or eager excitement.

As a child, I loved school. I remember preparing with a list in hand, carefully choosing pencils and notebooks. We weren’t wealthy, but my parents always found a way. Sadly, many children in Romania don’t get to experience that joy. For them, choosing school supplies or packing a backpack is out of reach. Without basic tools, some can’t attend school at all—missing the education that could shape their future.

A backpack filled with supplies, and a free Bible does more than prepare them for class—it helps them feel like they belong. It restores dignity. Because school supplies aren’t just pens and paper—they say: You matter. You belong. You have a future.

And the need doesn’t end after day one. Pencils break. Notebooks run out. Backpacks wear down. Many students quietly struggle without the basics to stay engaged and confident. This year, we want to walk with them through the entire school year—restoring hope and ensuring they have what they need to thrive.

Our Goal for 2025:


500 stocked backpacks at $25 each for students in the BOL Home, Youth Transition Program, and rural Feeding Centers.



$500 to support a literacy teacher at each Feeding Center, where children are learning to read and write for the first time.

For over two decades, we’ve seen how education transforms lives. We’ve watched children graduate, build Christian families, and come back to serve. It starts with the right tools—and support to keep going.

Let’s give more than supplies. Let’s offer dignity, preparation, and the joy of being seen.


Together, we can make this school year a turning point.


Debora Brown

Sponsorship Director

Thank you for your interest in Bread of Life Ministries. We have been able to accomplish a lot with the help of our supporters around the world. There is still more for us to do. Please prayerfully consider how you might help support Bread of Life as we provide support to children and families in need.

Become A Partner

Other articles you may be interested in

Child with shoebox gift
By BOL Team • September 24, 2026
There is something special about watching a child open a Christmas gift.  I have had the privilege of watching children receive Christmas shoeboxes many times over the years, but the excitement never gets old. A carefully wrapped box lands in their hands, and suddenly the air fills with anticipation and curiosity. Then you see smiles that seem to grow bigger with every item they discover. For some of these children, receiving a gift is not something they expect. They didn't earn it. They didn't do anything to deserve it. Someone they may never meet chose to give because they wanted that child to experience the joy of Christmas. Perhaps that is one reason these moments touch me so deeply.
By BOL Team • September 24, 2026
What Is the BOL Christian Center? Some dreams start small. Ours started as an impossible one — a home in Bucharest where teenagers from broken, poverty stricken backgrounds could finally have a stable place to live, grow, and become who God made them to be. 
By Luminita Panican BOL -YTP Coordinator • September 24, 2026
At the beginning of the journey, the word that best described these kids was helplessness. When you start life in an environment shaped by severe hardship, the future feels less like a promise and more like a threat. For the five young people in our community who graduated high school this summer, the starting line was a painful one. Behind their eyes lay realities too heavy for any child to carry: a girl who had to find her courage within an abusive family, and boys who grew up without the warm embrace of a mother. For them, education and finishing school seemed like a distant dream.