With help from social media, Austin LeConey, 5, collects 711 backpacks for The Unforgotten Haven
When Austin LeConey walks into his first day of kindergarten at Mullica Hill Friends School, he’ll be doing so with an Avengers backpack slung over his shoulders. Makes sense, since the 5-year-old is a bit of a superhero himself.
Late last month, Austin donated 711 backpacks filled with school supplies to The Unforgotten Haven in Gloucester Township. The backpacks will be distributed to area children in need. This is the third year the Mullica Hill resident has held his backpack drive — with a little help from mom and dad, of course.
“It is important to my husband Joe and me to instill a social conscience in our son. We’ve learned that children are really never too young to start teaching them how to have a giving spirit,” Austin’s mom, Meredith LeConey, said. “We do not take for granted that we are all only a lost job, tragic event, or critical illness away from needing someone to reach out and help us and we want to ensure that our son understands that.”
For Austin, the reason he collected backpacks was a little simpler.
“Because it makes them feel good,” he said of the recipients, “and it makes me feel good.”
The backpacks benefit The Unforgotten Haven’s Back to School fundraiser, which is in its fourth year. Founder Michele Gambone sang Austin’s praises.
“He’s amazing. That a 5-year-old to do something like that — it’s unbelievable,” Gambone said, adding the organization’s donation numbers were down this year due to a few reasons, including a decrease in corporate sponsors. “We weren’t sure what we were going to do.”
Thanks to Austin, they didn’t need to wait and find out. His donation was nearly half of what The Unforgotten Haven needed to help area youth.
“I just think more kids should do what he’s doing,” Gambone said. “The parents should teach them. If everybody did that, a lot of people would get more help.”
The first year the then-3-year-old Austin collected backpacks, he ended up gifting 24 to The Unforgotten Haven. Last year, he collected 67. This year, Austin made a personal pledge to round up 100 backpacks.
“He set this goal for himself at the end of last year. We were so nervous! We didn’t want to discourage him, so we put our heads-together to come up with a plan to create a broader reach using a social media platform,” Meredith said.
To help the project along, Austin’s parents set up an Austin the Backpack Buddy page on Facebook, and it didn’t take long for the power of social media to take hold. More than 300 people liked the page, and donations starting rolling in from around the country.
“It was incredible to watch people’s seemingly small acts of kindness spread like wildfire and make such a tremendous impact. It warmed our hearts and blew our minds to see the number of boxes we came home to every day,” Meredith said. “There were days we couldn’t even get in our front door!”
While Austin admits opening the many boxes delivered to his house was the least fun part of the project (“It’s a lot of work!”), packing the backpacks and counting the final number was easily his favorite. He said he “fell to the ground” when his dad told him the final tally of 711 bags.
Supplies packed into the bags included glue sticks, pencils, notebooks, scissors, crayons and more. There were also some “slap rulers” — Austin’s personal favorite.
“It’s basically a slap band — you slap it on your wrist and it wraps around,” Austin explained. “And on the back of it, it has a ruler.”
Backpacks were not the only thing donated for the drive. When unforeseen circumstances prevented The Unforgotten Haven from bringing its trailer to pick up the bags, close friend and UPS employee Connie Camerota came to the rescue. UPS donated a truck to use for the transport, and driver Mark Russell donated his time to help.
“UPS is a shining example of what it means to be a good corporate citizen; we were really touched by their support. Many of our friends and neighbors showed up that day as well to help move the 711 backpacks from our home to the UPS truck. It was no small feat and it was so heartwarming to see so many adults and children pitching in to help. We made it a party!” Meredith said. “None of this could have happened without so many people coming together to achieve a common goal of helping children in need.”
Next year, Austin is planning on collecting 1,000 backpacks, and he said he wants to continue his backpack drive for as long as his mom and dad will let him. For the 5-year-old, the reason is simple.
“I want to help as many kids as possible,” Austin said. “It makes me feel great.”
To keep track of Austin’s backpack drive next year and make donations, like his page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/austinthebackpackbuddy. The Unforgotten Haven is still in need of support for its Back to School drive this year. Learn more at www.facebook.com/theunforgottenhaven.
