Who We Are

Project I Am NFP is a youth-led nonprofit organization that turns compassion into action.

Our mission is two-fold: to provide essential support to individuals and families experiencing homelessness and hardship, while empowering young people to become servant leaders, community builders, and social entrepreneurs.

We believe there is power in now, that you don't have to be wealthy, famous, or even an adult to make a difference.

That's the heart of our motto: DON'T WAIT TO BE GREAT.

It Started With 88 Blessing Bags

Project I Am began in Chicago in 2016, when 8-year-old Jahkil Jackson gathered 15 friends to assemble 88 Blessing Bags filled with hygiene products, snacks, and other essentials for people experiencing homelessness.

His desire to serve started even earlier. At age five, Jahkil helped his aunt distribute food to people experiencing homelessness and couldn't understand why people were living without basic necessities. That experience stayed with him and those first 88 bags became his response.

What started as one child's desire to help has grown into a movement that has impacted more than 250,000 people worldwide.

What We Do

Today, Project I Am creates opportunities to serve throughout the year:

Blessing Bags bring youth, companies, schools, and communities together to pack and distribute essential care packages to people experiencing homelessness and hardship.

Project I Am: Next Up empowers young leaders to carry our mission into their own communities and lead service projects of their own.

Our Back-to-School Give Back provides backpacks, school supplies, and essentials to help students begin the school year prepared.

Giving Tuesday mobilizes young people across communities for one of our largest collective days of service, assembling and distributing thousands of Blessing Bags.

Our Holiday Give Back provides toys, coats, meals, and other necessities to children and families experiencing hardship during the holiday season.

Different initiatives. One mission: meet immediate needs while showing young people the power they have to serve others.

The Next Chapter

After 10 years, our goal isn't simply to pack more bags. It's to create more young people who believe they have the power to change their communities.

We're expanding Project I Am: Next Up, strengthening youth leadership and service opportunities, reaching new communities, and continuing to provide essential support to people who need it now.

We want young people to see a need and believe, “I can do something about that.”

Your Donation at Work

When you donate to Project I Am, you're supporting year-round impact—not just one event.

Your gift helps purchase essentials for Blessing Bags, provide supplies for our back-to-school and holiday initiatives, support Giving Tuesday service projects, and expand youth leadership opportunities.

We also work with corporate and in-kind partners who donate products and supplies, helping us stretch donor dollars further and direct resources where they're needed most.

Choose Your Impact

Every gift helps us serve people in need while giving young people opportunities to lead through service.

$10 — Helps provide hygiene and personal-care essentials for our Blessing Bag program.

$25 — Helps stock essential supplies for year-round Blessing Bag packing and distributions.

$50 — Helps provide supplies and materials for youth-led service projects and community givebacks.

$100 — Helps support initiatives such as Back-to-School, Giving Tuesday, and our Holiday Give Back.

$250 — Helps bring larger youth service experiences to life through supplies, materials, and community activations.

$500+ — Helps Project I Am expand our reach, engage more young people in service, and bring programming into more communities.

$1,000+ — Becomes a major investment in Project I Am's year-round service, youth leadership, and continued growth.

Help Us Write the Next Chapter

When you give to Project I Am, you're helping someone receive necessities they may not have today and giving a young person the opportunity to discover the power of serving someone else.

From one 8-year-old, 15 friends, and 88 Blessing Bags to more than 250,000 lives impacted, we've seen what can happen when people choose not to wait.

No gift is too small to make an impact. Give what you can, share our mission, and help us keep the movement going.

DON'T WAIT TO BE GREAT. 💙

2025 Impact Report

Kindness in Action