Thousands attended the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s (STC) annual Back-to-School Backpack Giveaway and Carnival on Friday.
When the event first began to take form in 2014, 100 backpacks filled with supplies were handed out. This year, that number was 3,500.
“You can just see the growing need for this type of service,” Chris Reynolds, Potash EVP and president of title sponsor Nutrien said.
“Unfortunately, the cost of living continues to increase and it just makes it harder and harder for parents to get their kids out the door and excited about going to school.”
STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand said he’s proud to see the community come together.
“It’s about the hard times, it’s about giving people some hope,” Arcand said on Friday. “Hopefully we can have these kids succeed in education instead of all of the negative things we see in our schools.”
These students are now ready for the first day of school on Sept. 3, with new backpacks filled with supplies like pens, pencils, pencil crayons and paper. They also enjoyed activities and games and free haircuts at the STC’s carnival.
“I don’t think 3,500 backpacks is enough in the city of Saskatoon,” Arcand said. “We see all of our crises: housing shortages, housing rentals, food prices, everything else. We had a table out there of used runners, those are all gone.”
Last year, 3,000 backpacks were handed out to community children.