Community

A Small Bag with a Big Heart

9 February 20265 min read

Bag of Love partners holding stationery packs at Kenville Primary School

Back-to-school season should feel exciting. For many families, though, the cost of stationery can make the start of a new academic year stressful. Preppi's Bag of Love was created to help change that story for children in the local community by placing the right school supplies directly into the hands of learners who need them most.

Every year, with the help of the community, Prepped 4 Prep puts together bags filled with essential school stationery and delivers them to children in underprivileged communities across Durban. For many of these children, receiving a brand new set of stationery is a first. A new pencil case, fresh notebooks, colourful crayons – things that most of us take for granted can make an enormous difference to a child’s confidence and enthusiasm for learning.

Education is widely recognised as one of the most powerful tools for breaking the cycle of poverty. But access to education isn’t just about having a desk in a classroom – it’s about having the tools to participate.

A child without a pencil cannot write. A child without a notebook cannot take notes. These seem like small things but they are barriers that thousands of South African learners face every day.

Partnerships that bring Hope

Prepped 4 Prep has partnered with The Wellness Centre Trust to bring hope, dignity and practical support to local learners. Prepped 4 Prep is a Durban-based business specialising in convenient stationery supplies for parents, schools and businesses, while The Wellness Centre Trust works to give homeless and destitute people a second chance in life. Together, the goal is simple: help young people feel prepared, encouraged and believed in as they begin the school year.

The project began in 2020 and, with the generous local community’s support, we have been able to distribute hundreds of Bags of Love to those in need. We have also had amazing partnerships with corporates like East Coast Radio and SPAR KZN.

A Bag filled with Love

We have 3 different Bag options: Junior Primary, Senior Primary and High School. Each bag is filled with stationery items selected according to the needs of the different schools and also includes a note of encouragement to remind each child that someone believes in them. All three bags are available at the same sponsorship amount of R200 per bag.

Contents of a Junior Primary Bag of Love

Contents of a Senior Primary Bag of Love

Your help matters

That’s where we need your help...

Sponsor one of our Preppi’s Bags of Love or part thereof to help make a difference in the life of a South African child in need. Section 18A certificates are also available should you require.

Share our story and initiative on all your social media platforms to spread the word and encourage other businesses and individuals to participate in this worthy cause. There’s something special about Durban’s community spirit. It is the city where strangers help each other, where businesses look out for their neighbours, and where a little pencil called Preppi can inspire people to give back.

Preppi's Bag of Love is about more than stationery. A pencil, ruler, exercise book or calculator may seem small, but for a child walking into a new school year, those items say: you are seen, you are supported and your education matters.

With the help of the community, Prepped 4 Prep and The Wellness Centre Trust hope to equip approximately 1,900 learners from Kenville Primary School and Sea Cow Lake Secondary School for the upcoming school year. Every full bag sponsored, and every part donation given, helps place confidence and opportunity into the hands of a child. As Magic Johnson said, “All kids need is a little HELP, a little HOPE and somebody who BELIEVES in them”.