Back to School Kits

It's that time of year again when the Mennonite Central Committee issues its appeal for school kits. If you'd like to help a schoolchild in a developing country or an area hit by a natural disaster, you can buy the supplies for a kit or two and visit their site to learn where to drop them off. The kits are taken to places like Bosnia and Iraq, Haiti and Liberia, among others. They are also distributed to poorly funded schools in the States and Canada.
The kits are not terribly expensive. If you're taking one of your own kids to buy their school supplies and you can spare a little cash, your minor outlay could provide a major lift to a needy recipient. The MCC specifies the following:


(NEW items only)

4 spiral or perforated notebooks (about 21.5cm x 27cm / 8.5" x 10.5" and 70-80 sheets U.S. / 140-160 pages in Canada, more info)
4 unsharpened pencils
1 ruler (flat, flexible plastic; indicating both 30cm and 12")
12 colored pencils (in packaging)
1 large pencil eraser

You can see from the above list that one kit wouldn't wallop your wallet. In fact, it could be a good idea for your kids to spend a little of their allowance, matching your donation by purchasing the items for one of the kits as well.
If you feel so inclined, and you own either a serger or a regular sewing machine, you can also obtain the exact instructions for making school kit bags. I've done this before and had a lot of fun with the shopping because I bought the brightest, most beautiful fabrics I could find and visualized the smiles on the faces of schoolchildren receiving my handiwork. They're not at all difficult to make and could be a great project for a group endeavour, like a church group or the Guides.
Please give it a thought.