Na’amat: School Supplies Packing Day is Sept. 22

(Calgary) – This is the 27th year the Na’amat Canada Calgary School Supplies for Kids program will be providing the Calgary area domestic violence and homeless shelters with backpacks filled with school supplies for school-aged children in their care.

More than 60 volunteers will gather on Sunday, September 22, to fill backpacks with essential school supplies for more than 900 school-aged children who will take refuge in Calgary and southern Alberta domestic violence and homeless shelters over the coming school year. At the conclusion of this year’s efforts, the School Supplies for Kids community project, held annually since 1998, will have equipped over 26,000 children in the care of Alberta shelters with backpacks stocked with school supplies.

Every day of the week children take refuge in Alberta shelters to escape domestic violence and/or homelessness. Typically, these children arrive at the shelters with little more than the clothes on their backs and then are faced with re-entering the school system within days of their arrival. Worries such as not having their own pencil or notebook or a bag to carry their schoolbooks are put to rest when the children receive a backpack stocked with school supplies courtesy of Na’amat Canada Calgary’s School Supplies for Kids program.

“The staff from the shelters repeatedly tell us how the children in their care light up when they receive one of our backpacks filled with school supplies. Our program not only equips these vulnerable children with the tools they need to succeed in school, but also helps strengthen their self-esteem, which is so important. Fortunately, the funds raised from our 50/50 raffle, along with the generous support of Rogers Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink, and our donors and sponsors made it possible for our program to continue to meet the needs of these children who have gone through so much,” says Stephanie Sacks, School Supplies for Kids Chairperson.

“It’s heartwarming to see how many people of all ages come together to volunteer at our mega packing day. We definitely couldn’t do it without them,” notes Linda Gutman, School Supplies for Kids Volunteer Coordinator.

Established in 1925, Na’amat Canada is a Jewish women’s non-profit organization that is dedicated to empowering the lives of women and children of all faiths and denominations in Canada and Israel. For more information go to: www.naamat.com/calgary.