Backpacks 4 Kids International Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for students in developing areas of  Belize. Backpacks 4 Kids International Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for students in developing areas of the world. Founded and directed by Carla Sherman, Backpacks for Kids International will be providing assistance to economically challenged rural areas of Belize.

A native of the country, Carla knows firsthand the plight of these children. Growing up in Belize City, Carla is a product of Belize’s public education system. Unlike many parts of the world, however, public education in Belize is not completely funded by taxes. Parents there are obligated to pay a fee for their child’s education as well as provide uniforms, books, supplies, lunches and bus money.

Unlike most of her peers who continued in the cycle of poverty in her native land, Carla determined to make a better life for herself. And, in 1982, she seized the opportunity to do so. Winning a beauty pageant whose top prize brought her to the United States, Carla determined to make America her home; ultimately, residing with an aunt in New Jersey.

Upon settling in the United States, she commenced working as a nanny to both support herself and save money for her education. When the time came for her to attend college, however, the grateful family for whom she had worked offered to finance her education at Monmouth University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting.

Upon graduation, Carla embarked upon a career in accounting, finance, and management with both for-profit and non-profit organizations. During her career, she has forgotten neither her own upbringing in Belize nor the generosity of the family to whom she is indebted for her education. After having a family of her own she had the urge to do something to make a difference in children lives and pass on the gift of giving in helping kids obtain an education.

She founded Backpacks 4 Kids International as a means of returning the benefits provided her to a new generation of young people in my home country of Belize and other developing nations.