City groups offering Backpack Project
This fall, hundreds of children will go back to school in Guelph without the necessary supplies needed to get them through the year.
As a result of increasing poverty among families in the city (due to lost jobs, health crises etc), school supplies come last on a lengthy list of necessities.
Close to 700 backpacks will be filled, then distributed until Aug. 28 through Backpack Project, a collaboration of local agencies under the umbrella of HOPE House.
Through an application process each child will receive a backpack filled with supplies tailored to their specific grade. Items may include a lunch bag, ice pack, pencils, pencil crayons, binders, duotangs, scissors, erasers, glue sticks and more.
Each backpack and its contents is worth approximately $100.
People in the community are being asked to purchase and fill a backpack for a specific child. Individual school supplies and monetary donations are also being accepted. Right now there are 250 children on the waiting list who can’t afford to buy a backpack and school supplies.
In conjunction with the Back-to-School Backpack Project, HOPE House is also offering free haircuts for children and a free clothing market to help make going back to school easier and more affordable for families living in poverty.
Fore more information visit www.lakesidehopehouse.ca/events.
