By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
It’s wonderful to see young people making a real difference in people’s lives. Take Evelyn Barnette, a sophomore at Oxford High School as an example. Since 2013 she has donated hundreds of backpacks stuffed with school supplies to Oxford/Orion FISH’s annual backpack drive, benefiting children at area schools who can’t afford expensive back-to-school shopping lists.
Thanks to her efforts, 100 local kids are back to school today equipped with stylish backpacks and utensils for learning. Her previous record was 60 donations in 2019.
“When we heard 100, I thought, oh my goodness,” said Michelle Behm, president of FISH. “The volume for one young lady to contribute to an organization – there’s nobody else that does this. I mean we have groups of people that don’t give what she does.”
Including her donation, FISH gave out 350 backpacks to families in need at the pantry located at 1060 S. Lapeer Rd. last Saturday, Aug. 21
Evelyn started with a couple backpacks when her father’s workplace participated in the drive. “I just said I wanted to help,” she recounted. “I did two backpacks. For one boy and one girl, and donated that with a couple extra supplies.”
The year after that, she connected with FISH and donated to them directly. Before COVID, she would run lemonade stands to raise funds, and put donation bins at local businesses, her church and her house. Her family has been very supportive, and her two eight-year-old sisters, Abigail and Olivia, also love to help.
Once she has raised the funds, she types a letter to the stores asking to go over their limits for certain supplies. The backpacks contain grade-appropriate items ranging from pre-k to high school. Everything from glue sticks and crayons to binders to planners.
“Sometimes she has little extras,” Behm said. “We open them up and we think, ‘Wow, we didn’t think about adding that to our backpacks.’ There isn’t anything missing in those backpacks.” Even with various discounts, including all the supplies each backpack costs about $75.
She always adds a personal touch and inserts a positive note in each backpack. “I like to help in the community,” Evelyn said. She is also involved with helping the homeless through her church. “I feel that I should be able to help them and try to make a difference in the world.”
Out of concern for her fellow classmates, she has always been cautious about remaining anonymous, Behm said. But over the last few years, her contributions have expanded exponentially. “We need to give you a little recognition because you’re so inspirational that then we have others that are like, well gosh if Evelyn did that, maybe I can make a little bit of a donation. So, it’s really become inspirational for others.”
Unfortunately with the coronavirus last year, FISH could not collect or distribute physical backpacks. They could only give out gift cards for school supplies. Taking initiative, Evelyn emailed the principals at each school in Oxford, asking if they knew of any students who needed backpacks. She collected the amounts they listed and donated them directly to the schools.
“It’s really become her labor of love,” Behm said.