A shrill whistle pierces the warm summer air, signaling to volunteers from Menlo Church that one among them has found the 1 millionth kit. As everyone looks toward where the sound originated, 7-year-old Caroline is smiling from ear to ear and runs over to hug her mother, Nancy, amid the claps and cheers.<\/p>\n
Caroline excitedly clutches the orange backpack, a SchoolTools<\/a> kit, and adds school supplies and a note of encouragement for the recipient — a child in need in her local community, the San Francisco Bay Area.<\/p>\n “It feels good, and it means a lot,” Caroline says after assembling the 1 millionth kit. SchoolTools kits provide the opportunity for children in the U.S. to engage in learning and help ease the burden many parents feel when they cannot provide for their children; they free up family resources for other essentials such as food, medicine, and utilities.<\/p>\n That day, 220 volunteers from Menlo Church<\/a> assembled 2,000 SchoolTools kits, including the 1 millionth kit assembled by Caroline, and another 4,000 Promise Packs<\/a> that World Vision will distribute in the Dominican Republic. It is one of many “Serve Your City” opportunities hosted by Menlo Church.<\/p>\n “The ability to connect people with people, serve together, and understand the greater good of why we’re doing this is really what matters,” says Nancy Rosa, a Menlo Church attender for 28 years.<\/p>\n The partnership between Menlo Church and World Vision is rich in history. The church has partnered with World Vision for 13 years, assembling more than 50,000 kits — more than any other World Vision church partner — that have impacted 1.7 million people around the world. Not only was Menlo Church the site of the 1 millionth kit event on July 28, it was also the site of the first World Vision kit event in 2005.<\/p>\n “This is just the tipping point,” says Nancy, who was instrumental in the launch of the first kit event. “I think this is just going to explode. I can’t imagine we won’t keep going. I want to keep going until I can’t build them anymore.”<\/p>\n Numerous World Vision staff echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n “This isn’t the end,” says Karen Sendelback, World Vision’s national director of partner engagement. “We feel this is a chance to say we’ve reached this incredible milestone, and what we want to do now is focus on getting to the 2 millionth kit. There are still children out there that need these school supplies. There are still children who need Promise Packs.”<\/p>\n