It’s a few weeks before school bells start ringing again in southern Saskatchewan, but community organizations say it’s not too early to help set students up for success.
Regina’s Salvation Army is on track to supply 800 students with backpacks stocked with school supplies, but donations are still needed, according to divisional secretary Al Hoeft.
“Unfortunately, the big challenge is, we had 1,300 families apply so we still have 500 families on our waiting list. So if we can get through these 800 families, we’d love to be able to make sure that those people get it and if for whatever reason, we’re able to come up with extra ones, we can start to help out some of those other families,” Hoeft said.
For their back-to-school program, donations are currently limited to cash. Hoeft said that ensures students get a lot more than a backpack.
“Being able to do this backpack program helps families who are working to get their kids back to school, make sure that they stay in school and aren’t marginalized because they may not have all of the supplies they’re supposed to have,” said Hoeft.
At the North Central Family Centre, staff will be handing out their first set of 550 bags this week and executive director Kim Wenger said donations are always in high demand.
“Additional help is always needed, that we continue the stretch, to support kids between now and the school year. So we do our event and then more need continues. We do have a really supportive community, so sometimes there’s other little pop-up backpack giveaways that happen,” said Wenger.
Be it bags, school supplies, clothes or even non-pershiable food items, Wenger said the donations carry over into the school year.
“When school does go back, we have an after-school program so we have a snack and supper for kids in the community and we also do programming in the evening, so we always need support with that as well, because that’s 365 days a year that we’re trying to get to to be here for kids,” she said.
Students in Regina go back to school on Sept. 3.