SCHOOL DAYS ARE NEAR
Five-year-old Arabelle Bird is ready for school After receiving A BACKPACK filled with supplies during A Carnival And BACKPACK giveaway At White Buffalo Youth Lodge on Thursday. More than 1,500 Children received BACKPACKS during the event.
The back alley behind the White Buffalo Youth Lodge, leading onto the street and into the next alley, filled as children and their parents lined up for the fourth annual backpack giveaway.
Getting backpacks for her two kids from the giveaway helps Samantha Baldatad buy them more clothes for school.
“A lot of people can’t afford school supplies and everything that they need to go back to school, so this helps out a lot of children and a lot of parents that are financially stuck,” she said.
“If I had to buy all this it would be over a hundred bucks, and I have two kids, a six-year-old and a 10-year-old.”
This year, the backpack giveaway also included other items a child may need, such as toothpaste and toques. The annual event also featured a barbecue and a carnival with bouncey houses and a dunk tank.
Mark Arcand, tribal chief of the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC), said in the four years since it began, about 4,000 backpacks have been handed out. This year, the goal was to give away around 1,200, and 1,250 were ready to go on Thursday.
“If we need more, we’ll go and buy more,” he said. “Every little bit helps. When you look at the situations in Saskatoon with the cost of food going up, the cost of rent going up, all of the demographic issues, anything helps people to make a difference in their life so their kids can prosper.”
Arcand said when he started as the vice-chief of the STC four years ago, his goal was to give back to the community. With partners like Nutrien, and sponsors with an international presence like Brock Group and GMS, Arcand said, they’ve been able to do that with the backpack program.
“Getting children back to school, and families prepared with enthusiasm, excitement and a readiness is as important to (the Saskatoon Tribal Council) as it is to (Nutrien), and helps close the education gaps and overcome the legacy of residential schools that still continue to live with us all, and sometimes challenges that ability to overcome what going to school can mean,” said Leanne Bellegarde, director of strategic inclusion at Nutrien.
“It’s also a day that is more than just getting backpacks and supplies. There’s a carnival, there’s food. It truly is a gathering and a celebration as we prepare for the end of solstice and the start of a new season and bring all community together, status-blind.”