Its that time of year again...the smelled of fresh plastic lunch boxes, unused crayons, and the glue from post it notes! Back to school season is here and in full force at all the local stores, you can't turn without seeing the rulers and markers dancing along the aisles!

Back to school shopping was always my favorite part of summer vacation ending, the one thing I could look forward to before my late nights with friends and camps were over for 9 months! Now that my son is entering Kindergarten the jump in my step has returned with just the thought of picking out notebooks and a backpack for him! So excited that...we are done! We have been done since the end of July! Sad, I know!

Six years ago, Armond was a fifth grade student at Cote Brilliante Elementary School. Armond wrote a letter to KidSmart explaining that he had never had his own notebook. His teacher would often distribute paper to the students by tearing out sheets from a pad. Armond wrote that although sharing was nice, he would really like a notebook of his own because all of his paper was gone.

Sadly, there are 90,000 area children just like Armond who face the reality of trying to learn without basic supplies like paper and pencils. KidSmart—Tools for Learning is a local nonprofit organization that operates a free educational supply store to help kids like Armond succeed in school. Since opening in 2002, KidSmart has distributed nearly $8 million in school supplies to more than 40,000 local kids in need.

There are still 40,000 children in St. Louis who need our help. Studies show that students with proper supplies have a better chance of succeeding in school. Every child deserves to start the school year ready to learn.

Push for Pencils will help replenish the KidSmart Free Store for the start of the school year and provide thousands of children with the tools they need for success in the classroom. With the help of the St. Louis community, a notebook for each child in need can be just the beginning.

As soon as I heard about KidSmartSTL & Push for Pencils I have wanted to help promote the St Louis Mommies team and raise funds and gather school supplies to help the children in our area succeed in school! I hope that if you are reading this you are interested and want to help as well! You do not have to be from St Louis to help out - we are accepting School supply donations as well as money donations (In whatever amount you can afford to part with).

I am wanting to set up a time and location in front of Walmart or Target as well to help gather donations, if you are interested in volunteering your time please let me know!

Please check out our team site here: St Louis Mommies: Push for Pencils