October 1, 2026
PLANO, Texas – Realizing the financial hardship of many families and the fact that 1 in 6 children face food insecurity in Collin County, Prestonwood Baptist Church recognizes an opportunity for the body of Christ.
With many families having to decide between food and school supplies, the church stepped in to cover one of those. (It often helps with the other one too.)
This year, through its annual school supply drive called “Prestonwood Cares: School Paks,” Prestonwood provided more than 2,100 students with the tools they need to succeed for the start of a new school year.
For this year’s back-to-school outreach, nearly 1,000 backpacks were distributed at the event— bringing the total to nearly 3,000 School Paks and backpacks.
The School Paks outreach began in 2018 as an initiative of Prestonwood Cares, the church’s compassion ministry. It’s coordinated by Missions Minister Mike Beeson.
This compassion ministry reaches families across North Texas who have needs and challenges beyond basic day-to-day concerns. In addition to their School Paks outreach, Prestonwood Cares’ Hunger Project provides non-perishable food supplies to families who do not know where their next meal will come from. Since 2020, the Hunger Project has provided nearly 2 million meals in North Texas.
Prestonwood spends two months each year collecting school supplies from individuals and businesses across North Texas.
At the end of the summer, the school supplies are given to partners across Collin, Dallas and Denton counties, who in turn provide numerous avenues for distribution.
Prestonwood also holds a back-to-school outreach on its campus hosted by Spanish ministry Prestonwood en Español and its pastor, Gilberto Corredera. This outreach event began in 2024 as a way to provide a fun-filled day with inflatables, games, and snacks for children in the community.
As a result of this year’s outreach, 650 children heard the Gospel, and 153 made a profession of faith. More than 150 volunteers served at the back-to-school outreach, ranging in age from youth to senior adults.
“Their willingness to give their time and energy made it possible to welcome and serve so many families, while creating opportunities to share the Gospel,” Corredera said.
He noted that Prestonwood is continuing to follow up with those in attendance, including 32 families who indicated they were without any church affiliation.
“This outreach provided a meaningful opportunity to connect with families who may not have otherwise walked through our church doors,” Corredera said. “Beyond those decisions, we have seen many new families who have connected with our church and have been impacted through this event.”
By meeting both physical and spiritual needs for children, families were able to see the hand of God at work.
“One story that especially stands out is that of a young boy named Killian who began attending our church earlier this year, accepted Christ at our summer camp and received his first Bible at church,” Corredera said. “The day before the outreach event, Killian was given a helmet and knee pads, but he didn’t have a bike. At the event, we held our annual bike giveaway for everyone in attendance, and Killian ended up winning the bike.”
Corredera continued, “For Killian and his family, it felt like a special confirmation that he is exactly where God has placed him. What began as an outreach event became another opportunity for this young boy to experience God’s love and see how He is working in his life.”
For the volunteers, seeing lives changed for the glory of God spurs them to give of their time, energy, and resources while shopping for school supplies and serving at the outreach event.
“Glory to God for what He is doing in our church,” said Petrona Reyes, who has been a member of Prestonwood en Español since 2013 and serves as a faithful volunteer. “Seeing the love with which the church shares Jesus inspires me to do the same. To God be the glory.”
Prestonwood has been involved in different forms of back-to-school outreach since the 1990s.
“It is the heart of Senior Pastor Jack Graham and our church family to be the hands and feet of Christ, whether we are ministering in our communities, our state, our country or our world,” Beeson said. “Pastor Graham often shares with us an old motto for missions that says, ‘The light that shines the farthest shines the brightest at home.’ For us, it all begins at home.”
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This story appeared in Baptist Press.
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