Chapel Grove's Backpack Ministry is a ministry seeking to impact the lives of children right here in Gastonia NC who need our help. Our goal is to not only help to feed them physically but also spiritually by showing them the love of Jesus through our actions and ministering to them each week with scriptures and other materials sent home in the backpacks. Our goal is to make sure these families know that they don't have to do this alone, our church cares for them and wants to help in any way we can but more importantly Jesus loves them.

This ministry was originally started by the R.E.A.L. Bible Study class as mission project but we soon realized that the need was much larger than we could handle on our own. Since then it has grown to a church wide effort to ensure that we are helping to fill the needs of as many kids in our area as we possibly can. We welcome the help of anyone who would like to give or be apart of this ministry in some way. The goal is giving these kids the best chance they have at being successful at school and in life all while spreading the gospel and love of Jesus Christ.

We are currently partnering with two of our local elementary schools, Chapel Grove Elementary & Forest Heights. Each school goes through their own process of selecting the families in need and verifying that they are interested in becoming part of our ministry. Once a family becomes part of the program the social worker provides us with generic household information so that we are able to fill a backpack each week that is specific to that family's size and needs.

If you know of a family who is in need of this ministry that attends one of these two schools please have them see the social worker, Michelle Black, to find out more about becoming a part of this program or for other programs that may be available for them.

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We are in the process of reaching out to the other Title 1 schools in Gaston county to see if they are interested in starting this program in their schools. We are looking for churches willing to sponsor a school and start this ministry within their own congregation. If you are interested in more information about this program and how to get it started or for a list of schools interested in being a part of it please contact us. Our prayer is that the churches of this city unite so that we can fulfill as many of these needs as we can while spreading the love of Jesus Christ to a city that desperately needs to hear his message.

There is a huge need for this ministry. Every week we are seeing it grow from the 22 children we started with to where it's at today. Some of the stories of the families we are helping will break your heart. These are real families with real children who have real needs. Families who are just hurting and in need of someone willing to love them enough to help.

When we first looked into starting this ministry we never imagined that right here in our city so many were living off so little. Between the two schools we are sponsoring there are 963 children currently enrolled. Of those 963 children 702 of them are receiving FREE lunch, not reduced lunch but FREE. That means that 73% of these families are living below poverty level. They are struggling day to day and they need a little help but more than that they need a lot of encouragement. We as followers of Christ are called to reach out and help those in need. We can do that right here in our own city. We can share that love of Jesus and help meet the needs of the people we pass by everyday on our own streets through this ministry. To find out more about what qualifies as living below the poverty level click here


To think that there are kids right here in our backyard who are hungry and hurting should make us all realize how lucky we truly are and make us want to give back to those less fortunate. For around $5 we are able to give a child everything you see on the next tab to feed them for a whole weekend. $160 sponsors a child for an entire school year. For more information on how you can help please visit our donation section.

In every backpack there are 2 Breakfast items, 2 Lunch Items, 2 Dinner Items and 2 fruit or snack items per child that is in the home. We also try to put something in there each week to minister to them about Jesus. If you are unable to help financially we'd love to have you get involved by making something for these children that we can put in their backpacks.

Breakfast (2 of the following items each week)

Pop Tarts Oatmeal Grits Cereal

Lunch (2 of the following items each week)

Ramen Noodles Chicken Noodle or other soup varieties Macaroni & Cheese (individual microwaveable packs) Spaghetti-O's, BeefORoni, Ravioli

Dinner (1 of the each item)

We choose one of the other lunch items to include as a dinner choice for one day For the other day we try to give them a meal they can all eat together. Each family gets a complete meal with the meat included. These are very similar to Hamburger Helper and found in the same aisle but it has the meat included.

Snack (2 of the following items each week)

Applesauce Fruit Cups Jello Pudding Animal Crackers Gold Fish Popcorn Any snack item other than chips and cookies we typically will include