Union Bears Backpack Program

11/02/2026

🐻🧡 A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR UNION HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS! 🧡🐻

We had a great group of students from Union High School’s National Honor Society and football team come out to help us today, and they got A LOT accomplished! 🙌

Together, we were able to get a couple of packing lines ready, load up the delivery for the Children’s Advocacy Center that we delivered this evening, pack a weekend bag for our Thanksgiving distribution, and tape up LOTS of boxes to get them ready for our upcoming Thanksgiving food box packing! 📦🍂

We even had a few minutes of packing in the dark when the power went out! 😂 One of the gentlemen said, “That’s alright, we can still get these done!” Now THAT is the kind of attitude we love to see!

We are so thankful for these young men and women who took time out of their day to lend a helping hand. It’s always encouraging to see our students giving back to their community and helping make sure their fellow Union students have food to eat over the Thanksgiving break. 🧡

11/02/2026

🎉 A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING COMMUNITY! 🐻🧡💙

On Friday, October 30th, we held our annual raffle fundraiser, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the incredible support we received!

First, we want to thank the many amazing local businesses that so generously donated gift cards, gift certificates, and items from their businesses. Your generosity helps make fundraisers like this possible and allows us to continue our mission of fighting childhood hunger in our community!

We also want to thank EVERYONE who purchased raffle tickets! Whether you were hoping to win the basket or simply wanted to support the Union Bears Backpack Program, we appreciate every single one of you. Your support makes a difference in the lives of the students we serve!

And last, but certainly not least, we had some AMAZING help selling tickets! The Union High School Softball team and the Union High School Girls Basketball team showed up ready to work, and they did just that! These girls jumped right in and helped us sell tickets, and we are so thankful for their willingness to give back to their community. 🥎🏀🐻

AND OUR WINNER IS… Tiffany Davis! 🎉

At the end of the first quarter, we entered a name for every ticket sold into a wheel of names and the spinner randomly chose Tiffany Davis! She was able to come claim her prize at the game. Congratulations, Tiffany, and thank you for supporting the Union Bears Backpack Program!

Thank you all for supporting the Union Bears Backpack Program and helping us strike out hunger! 🐻🧡💙

10/30/2026

🚨 YOU STILL HAVE TIME! BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW‼️

10/29/2026

A HUGE thank you to Ballad Health! 🧡💙

Ballad Health has generously awarded us a grant to help cover the cost of our Thanksgiving boxes this year! After learning about our mission, they wanted to do more than donate—they wanted to get involved!

Yesterday, their team joined us to pack this week’s bags AND the November bags for the Children’s Advocacy Center! With Wise County Schools out Monday and Tuesday, we’re sending home extra food to help ensure our students have what they need over the long weekend. They also donated very nice drawstring bags for each student to carry their larger weekend food bags home today!

And the icing on the cake? They stayed to help deliver the bags to classrooms! 🥹

Their generosity, willingness to serve, and hands-on support made a huge difference for us. We are incredibly grateful to Ballad Health for helping us fight childhood hunger in our community! 🐻🧡💙

10/29/2026

🐻Our Union High School students have been showing up in a BIG way!👏🏼

As we prepare for our Thanksgiving distribution, we’ve had lots of food shipments arrive, and students from the Student Government Association and National Honor Society, and a few very special teachers have spent several afternoons after school helping us take inventory, unpack boxes, and stock our pantry!

I quite literally could not have done it without their help! We are so proud of these students and grateful to have them on our team! 🧡💙

10/29/2026

🐻 A HUGE thank you to Brad Connor! 🧡

Two days ago, we received two new shelves and a hand truck through a grant, and I put out a request for someone to volunteer their time to put them together. I had so many people respond offering to help! ❤️

Brad was the first to respond and showed up bright and early at 7:30 AM yesterday at Union Primary School to get everything assembled! He put together both shelves and our new hand truck - see them pictured below!

Brad, thank you for your time and willingness to help our program! And thank you to everyone who offered to lend a hand. We are so grateful for our amazing community! 💙🧡

10/28/2026

‼️PLEASE SHARE‼️

We are raffling a basket full of goodies to raise money for the Union Bears Backpack Program! Our program sends food home with food insecure students on the weekends, holidays, and school breaks so that they do not have to go without food!

We want to thank the many generous businesses in our community that have donated! And thank you to those of you who buy a ticket. You are helping to keep our little bears fed! 🐻

🎉The winner will be drawn live after the first quarter of the Union Football game on Friday Oct 30 at Bullitt Park.
*you do NOT have to be present to win!

Tickets are $5 each 🎟️

💵We will accept cash payment at the game on Friday starting at 5:30pm.

📱Online payments for tickets will be accepted now until the first quarter is over. Online donations are welcome anytime! 💙🐻

PayPal : [email protected]
Venmo:
Cashapp: $UnionBearsBackpack

When you purchase a ticket, you are buying a chance to win EVERYTHING in the basket! 🧺

OUR RAFFLE BASKET INCLUDES:

🧡 Big Stone Economy Drug - $100 CASH
🧡Fitcon Graphics- 2 adult tshirts, 1 kids tshirt, Camo hat
🧡Union High School - 2 tickets to play off game
🧡 Country Kitchen- $50 gift card and Candleberry Candle
🧡Guerrant Goodies - $25 gift card
🧡Curklin's- $20 gift card
🧡Ball’s TV - Pink Bear Sweatshirt
🧡Tracys Salon on Main- Bears flip flops, Bears slippers, 2 Bare Minerals make up kits, softball shirt, and volleyball shirt
🧡Sara Steffey Botts @ The Fringe - Kenra Hairspray, Redken leave in conditioner, change purse, set of bracelets, Bears earrings
🧡Appalachian Vision- $50 gift card
🧡Sweet Winks - Tshirt, hat, candle, 2 keychains, and 2 pairs of earrings
🧡Every Day is a HollyDay- Gift Voucher for 1 Mini Bear with shirt and backpack
🧡Mountain View Print Co. - Bears metal sign and tumbler
🧡ART Connect- $35 gift certificate
🧡Christy Smith @ Crafty Creations - 2 bowl coozies and 4 cord wraps
🧡GoodTimes Coal-Fired Pizza & Pub - $20 gift certificate
🧡Dari Delite - $25 gift certificate
🧡MC Dean, Inc. - drawstring bag, pop ball, highlighter, Rubik’s cube, notebook, and pen

10/28/2026

10/27/2026

Do I have any handymen or women who would be willing to volunteer their time to assemble two shelves for our Union Bears Backpack Program pantry at Union Primary School? 📦

It should look like the one in the picture below, complete with wheels! 🛞

If you’re willing to lend a hand, please comment below or send me a message for details! Thank you for always showing up for our little Bears! 🐻🧡💙

10/26/2026

A special thank you to these three for stepping up at the last minute to help us unpack a late food delivery last week! 📦 They jumped right in, got everything unpacked, and stocked our pantry! 🙌🧡💙