United Way Golden Horseshoe is stepping up big time as students prepare to head back to school, with 2,500 backpacks full of supplies for Niagara students.
As the United Way notes in a news release, back-to-school season can be an exciting time for many, but it can also be stressful for families facing cost pressures.
This year, volunteers and community partners stepped up to prepare 2,500 backpacks for students in need. On Aug. 26, volunteers assembled 2,000 elementary school backpacks for local schools, while an additional 500 backpacks for community organizations were packed separately by labour union partners.
The backpacks have now been delivered to the District School Board of Niagara and the Niagara Catholic District School Board, with thanks to Niagara Region Transit.
“For many families, back-to-school expenses come at a time when household budgets are already stretched,” said United Way Golden Horseshoe Chief Operating Officer Fraces Hallworth.
“Something as simple as a backpack filled with the right supplies can help relieve some of that pressure while giving a child the confidence to walk into their classroom ready to participate and learn,” Hallworth added. “We’re incredibly grateful to the volunteers, labour partners and community organizations who make that possible.
The Backpacks for Kids program is made possible through the help of local businesses, labour partners, service clubs, and community organizations.
United Way Golden Horseshoe in particular wanted to thank Rankin Construction, Niagara Regional Transit, CAA Niagara/Niagara Airbus, Niagara Region, TD Bank, the Kiwanis Club of St. Catharines, CUPE 4156, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Niagara Regional Labour Council, SEIU Unit 1 Healthcare, the Niagara Construction Association, Locomotive Marketing, ATU Local 846 and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Occasional.
According to United Way Golden Horseshoe, each partner organization plays a different role, from logistics to transportation to supplies to in-kind services.
The United Way noted that CAA played an important role, as an example, in organizing the use of the Niagara Airbus warehouse to assemble the backpacks.
Brad Steeves, Vice President of Automotive Services at CAA Niagara, spoke about CAA’s support of United Way Golden Horseshoe’s efforts.
“CAA is a community-oriented organization, and we recognize the need here in Niagara to support students,” said Steeves. “Supporting Backpacks for Kids was an easy decision, and with my history with this initiative through prior years we knew what was needed to pull everything together to pack thousands of backpacks.”
“I’ve grown close to United Way, and this is an exciting time to be involved and see the growth of United Way Golden Horseshoe through the recent amalgamation and the opportunities it presents to grow the social safety net here in Niagara.”
United Way Golden Horseshoe was formed quite recently as the result of mergers of several local United Way organizations and serves the Brant, Haldimand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton, and Niagara communities.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
