Pen Pals, Backpacks, and Smiles
Project Knapsack
100,000 Backpacks
Donated to students in the United States and throughout Africa and South Africa.
25,000+ Pen Pals
Connected through the organization’s global pen pal program.
Over $125,000
Invested to support education initiatives, program grants, life skills, and experiential learning programs.
About Us
One Backpack. One Pen Pal. A World of Opportunity.
Pen Pal Program
School Supply Program
Project Knapsack Inc. is a 501 © 3, not for profit organization that partners elementary, secondary and high school students in the United States with pen pals in Africa and South Africa. The program provides brand new backpacks filled with school supplies and other education resources at the beginning of each school term.
Project Knapsack’s pen pal program fosters cross cultural communication between students on both continents. Eighty percent of Project Knapsack pen pals communicate through letter writing, while approximately twenty percent correspond via email. We believe that traditional letter writing improves handwriting capabilities, refines punctuation and grammar skills and reinforces the usage of proper literary syntax.
School Supply Program: Project Knapsack’s backpack and school supply program extends far beyond the students who participate in our pen pal program. Our mission is to provide school supplies and other education tools to students and teachers across the globe, who require the extra resources needed to thrive in the classroom. With the rising costs of basic school supplies, oftentimes it’s difficult for families to purchase these items for their student(s). We recognize the need and are here to help!
Our partners
