THEY’VE GOT STUDENTS’ BACKS

School supply kits help hundreds

For the parents of many elementary students in Ottawa, the first back-to-school hurdle isn’t buying the coolest new kicks. It’s putting together a basic kit of school supplies.

One in five children in Ottawa live in poverty and more than 1,200 students go to school in September without a backpack or school supplies, according to the Education Foundation of Ottawa, which works with principals, teachers, social workers and school support staff to get students the supports they need to succeed at school.

Social agencies that put together backpacks are seeing increased demand for the kits they give to students. The Caring and Sharing Exchange last year supplied 2,553 children with a backpack containing school supplies such as crayons, pencils and pens.

The organization was prepared for more families asking for help this year — possibly because of the influx of Syrian refugees to Ottawa — but not a jump of 38 per cent. The exchange had 2,700 children on its list this summer, and another 822 on a waiting list by the second week of August.

By Aug. 24, the waiting list had been whittled down to 196.

“We’re hopeful we will be able to serve everyone,” said executive director Cindy Smith.

Other organizations have seen a similar trend.

“We’re experiencing an increase in new immigrants with larger families requesting support,” said Brad Spooner, program manager at the Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community Resource Centre, which has a program called Tools 4 School.

The resource centre, which opens its registration for backto-school supplies in July, had a waiting list in August. The centre expects to help out about 450 students, thanks to support from the community and sponsorship.

The Caring and Sharing Exchange uses the low-income cutoff to determine eligibility. For a two-person household, that’s $24,949. For a family of three, it’s $31,061, and it’s $38,185 for a family of four. The cut-off for a family of seven is $66,027. The exchange co-ordinates with other community organizations across the city to ensure there is no duplication, which allows it to help more people, Smith said.

Exchange volunteers stuff backpacks for three groups of students — kindergarten, “junior” students from Grades 1 to 4 and “senior” students from Grade 5 to 8.

Kindergarten students, for example, get a backpack with a package of crayons, a pair of blunt scissors and a glue stick. The items, including the backpack, have a retail value of about $35, according to the exchange, which gets the school supplies at about one-third of the retail cost.

Spooner believes the cost of living has become a significant challenge for families with multiple children.

“Back-to-school programs which offer $30 to $40 in school supplies in every bag provide a big relief to families.”