With less than two weeks until the beginning of a new school year, a local food bank is scrambling to gather enough donations to meet the needs of low income families in Halifax.
The Parker Street Food & Furniture Bank already has more than 900 children registered to receive a backpack full of donated school supplies. However, as of Friday, they only have enough donations for 300 and are asking for the public’s help.
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“It’s a hard time for a lot of our clients. They’re already struggling trying to keep up with their daily bills and expenses,” said client services coordinator Cynthia Louis.
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“We are handing this out within two weeks so right now we’re trying to get as much help as possible so we don’t have to turn anyone away.”
Louis said last year saw a 30 per cent increase in the number of children from low income families registered in the program. She said this year they’re anticipating that number to grow and are aiming to gather enough donations for 1,000 kids.
READ MORE: Students who go to school hungry lose 2 hours of productivity every day: report
Some of the things the food bank needs most right now are backpacks, zip-up binders, calculators, USB drives and scientific calculators.
A full list of needed supplies along with information on how to donate is available on their website.
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