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Welcome
Copyright 2009. Indigo Traders and Indigo BATH, all rights reserved.
Making a mark
Our mission is to encourage a desire for learning and to promote positive self-esteem in children around the globe. To that end, we collect backpacks and school supplies from our local community and deliver them to children living in marginalized areas in the Middle East and beyond.
Home-room
We call Multnomah Village home. Our village is a quaint neighborhood in Portland, Oregon where we live and work. But we never feel too far away from the villages across the globe that we serve.
Global Backpack Project is a grassroots, community effort launched in 2008 by the owners of Indigo Traders, Samir Naser and Karla Bean.
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"Before I had my backpack, nobody paid much attention to me.
Now everyone wants to carry my bag for me on the way to school.
I like going to school.
Farah, age 8GLOBAL BACKPACK PROJECT
Delivering packs, pencils and promise to children around the globe.
During the last seven years, Naser and Bean have made numerous trips to the Middle East to buy goods for their stores. During each trip, they have witnessed the devastating effects of a war-torn environment on that region’s children. Daily conflict continues to disrupt these children’s lives in tragic ways, making it difficult for them to attend school, let alone feel hopeful about the future.
Global Backpack Project seeks to make a difference in the lives of these children. Since our first backpack drive in 2008, hundreds of backpacks filled with school supplies have been collected from the local community and delivered to school children in Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus, Morocco and SW Portland.
Why?
To help children feel prepared for school. To inspire them to ask questions. To help them feel positive about learning and themselves. And ultimately, to give children the tools they need to imagine and create a better future for themselves.
We believe that children have an unlimited potential to learn and grow when given the opportunity. Yet, many children don’t attend school regularly or drop out simply because their families cannot afford or don’t have access to basic school supplies. Without the right tools, children feel unprepared to learn, their self-esteem may plummet, and their ability to achieve in school is diminished.
Got Pencils? Make a donation.
Tax-deductible donations of new backpacks and basic school supplies are gladly accepted at Indigo Traders and Indigo Bath. Suggested school supplies to include in the packs are pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, pens, simple calculators, toothbrushes, dental floss and band aids. Donated backpacks and school supplies will be delivered to school children in marginalized communities in the Middle East and beyond.
Cooperating
Global Backpack Project partners with CICAN, Collaborative for International Children’s Art and Non-profits, a local non-profit organization connecting the world’s children through art and culture. CICAN is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.
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Donate $35
Provide one child with a new backpack and basic school supplies
Donate $70
Provide two children with new backpacks and basic school supplies
Donate $105
Provide three children with new backpacks and basic school supplies
All donations are tax-deductible and are accepted by CICAN, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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Current Projects
Project Turkey
Children in Istanbul received new packs delivered by Samir in October.
Project Jordan
Children in Zarq'a received packs in 2008
Project Uganda
Efforts are underway to receive corporate funding to provide children
in Uganda backpacks, schools supplies and funds for school uniforms so they may attend school.
Project SW Portland
GBP delivered packs and school supplies to Neighborhood House
before the start of school.
