As families across Alabama begin checking off back-to-school shopping lists, Full Moon Bar-B-Que is once again inviting the community to help make the start of the school year a little brighter for children in need.

Nominations are now open for the restaurant’s seventh annual Backpack Blessings program, an initiative that provides students across the state with fully stocked backpacks filled with school supplies and gift cards. This year, the program is expanding to serve 500 children, making it the largest Backpack Blessings campaign to date.

Helping students start the school year with confidence

Each selected child will receive a Nike backpack valued at more than $200 and filled with classroom essentials, including notebooks, folders, crayons, pencils, pens, markers, highlighters, a Full Moon Bar-B-Que color-changing water bottle, a $25 Walmart gift card, and a $25 Full Moon Bar-B-Que gift card.

Since the program launched in 2020, Backpack Blessings has provided more than 1,400 backpacks to children and families across Alabama, representing a community investment of more than $325,000. What began as a simple effort to help students prepare for the classroom has grown into one of the restaurant’s most meaningful annual traditions.

“Backpack Blessings is one of the most rewarding initiatives we take part in each year,” said Joe Maluff, co-owner of Full Moon Bar-B-Que. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support 500 children and their families this year.”

More than school supplies

For the Full Moon team, every backpack represents far more than notebooks and pencils.

“Every backpack represents more than school supplies,” said David Maluff, co-owner of Full Moon Bar-B-Que. “It’s encouragement, confidence, and a reminder that their community cares about their future. Seeing the excitement on a child’s face when they receive their backpack is something our team looks forward to every year.”

Community members can nominate a deserving child through July 15 at 11:59 p.m. by completing an online application. Nominations should include details about why the child would benefit from receiving a Backpack Blessing.

Recipients will be notified directly and will have 48 hours to claim their backpack at the Full Moon Bar-B-Que location selected during the nomination process. All backpacks must be picked up by July 26, and any unclaimed backpacks will be redistributed to newly selected recipients to ensure they reach families before the start of the school year.

How to nominate a child

Backpack Blessings is open to children across Alabama, and anyone in the community can submit a nomination on behalf of a deserving student. Whether it’s a neighbor, classmate, family member, or friend, the program aims to help ease the burden of back-to-school expenses while giving children the tools they need to begin the year prepared and encouraged.

Nominations are open through July 15. To nominate a deserving Alabama child, visit Full Moon Bar-B-Que’s Backpack Blessings application online.