Start school with all kids on same foot
Back to school is going to be a little easier this fall for Adebusola Abiola Adeniyi’s three children.
For starters, they have brand new sneakers and backpacks loaded with supplies, after standing in line at the Welcome Hall Mission in St-Henri Tuesday. They were among thousands of needy families stocking up in a festive atmosphere that included balloons, cotton candy and pulsating music.
And just as important, the trio will be starting Grade 5, Secondary 1 and Secondary 3 on the first day of class this year. The family, who are originally from Nigeria, only arrived in Montreal from the United States in late September last year. After spending two weeks in a shelter before managing to find a permanent apartment of their own, the Adeniyi kids began school more than a month late.
They nevertheless adjusted well, said their mother, noting they picked up French quickly.
“We are so blessed,” Adeniyi said as her children tried on their new footwear for size while volunteers zipped back and forth laden with stacks of shoe boxes. “It’s been wonderful. God blessed us and put us with good people. We’ve had so much support, we want to give back now. For me, this is home.”
Throughout Montreal, families are gearing up to head back to class in less than two weeks. Parents, armed with lists, are scouring store shelves to find the correct number and colour of Duo-Tangs, the right size binder or the appropriate shade of highlighter.
It can be an expensive time for any household, even with the $100 cheques for each schoolage child the Quebec govern- ment sent out last January and again in July, to help defray these costs. Preparing for classes to resume can run as much as $500 per child in some instances — although recycling and reusing items can bring down the total significantly, with a little effort.
For families who struggle to make ends meet, going back to school can be a time of particular hardship, a painful reminder of the divide between have and have-not. Thankfully, several Montreal organizations are stepping up to ease the stress.
Sun Youth is distributing new clothing donated by various sponsors at its St-Urbain St. headquarters on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Opération sac à dos is providing 4,500 kids with a school bag packed with supplies and a new lunch box at 17 Magasins-Partage, located around Montreal.
And Rentrée la tête haute is in full swing at the Welcome Hall Mission this week, where an army of volunteers scurried around Tuesday handing out backpacks brimming with notebooks, pens and markers. By the end of Wednesday, 3,200 children will have received these essentials and been outfitted with a new pair of runners to boot.
All together, a new partnership between Welcome Hall and the Regroupement Partage will shower 7,500 kids with $900,000 worth of donated items so they, too, can start class with sharp pencils, fresh clothes and shiny shoes.
The effort is important because it puts children from disadvantaged backgrounds on the same footing as their more privileged peers, said Sam Watts, the CEO and executive director of the Welcome Hall Mission.
“It brings families dignity,” Watts said at the launch event, attended by Economic Development Minister Dominique Anglade, Sud- Ouest borough Mayor and Montreal executive committee chair Benoît Dorais and other dignitaries. “Poverty is not a career choice. You don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘I think I’m going to try poverty.’ ”
In Montreal, one in five children lives below the poverty line. The city centre, including downtown, the Sud- Ouest and Verdun, is among the top five low-income districts in the country. According to Moisson Montréal’s Hunger Count, 41,000 children rely on food banks each year to eat. That means too many children go to school with empty stomachs and rely on breakfast programs to kick-start their day.
Similarly, too many would be unprepared for the challenges of the academic year ahead if it weren’t for programs that supply the basics they need to do their class work, said Marie-José Mastromonaco, the vice-president of the Commission scolaire de Montréal.
“All parents want the best for their children,” she said. “But sometimes they have to make heartbreaking choices.”
For Adewole Mourinho Adeniyi, 12, things are looking up. His mom has found a job doing customer service for a collections agency, the family spends time volunteering for the organizations that helped them get on their feet when they arrived, he has made some friends, and now he and his siblings have everything they need to start the new school year.
“Actually, physical education is my favourite,” he said, clutching his new black sneakers. “But in class I like math, and I also want to do some science.”
It’s been wonderful. God blessed us and put us with good people. We’ve had so much support, we want to give back now.