200 BACK-TO-SCHOOL BACKPACKS/SUPPLIES & BASIC NECESSITIES FOR STUDENTS IN NEED

Community support needed now!

August 16, 2021, Burlington, Ontario: Halton Catholic Children’s Foundation (HCCF) has announced a back-to-school initiative to provide 200 backpacks with school supplies and to support ongoing basic needs like clothing, shoes, and outerwear for students in Halton’s Catholic Community starting in September and throughout the school year.

“Poverty is a barrier to learning success for a variety of reasons, but HCCF believes every child deserves the opportunity to succeed,” says Marc Clare, Executive Director of HCCF. “Back to school can be particularly challenging for struggling students and their families. There is a need for cool weather clothing, shoes, and outerwear that fits growing children, as well as school supplies for the classroom and at home that supports learning and immersive educational experiences.”

A key part of the HCCF Back To School Campaign is to provide 200 backpacks for Halton Catholic Community students in need. To achieve this goal, HCCF has partnered with Halton Catholic District School Board (HDCSB) Child & Youth Counsellors (CYCs) Karen Drummond and Christina Raymond, and other community leaders and volunteers. HCCF will also be raising funds to support basic necessity requirements for students in need throughout the school year.

Our donors have helped to provide 200 backpacks with school supplies & are supporting other basic necessities – thank you.

A huge thank you to the twelve volunteers gathered at Holy Rosary School, Burlington to stuff 200 backpacks with school supplies on Thursday August 19.

Photo Credit – Julianna LoPresti, HCCF Summer Student

“There are few things more important than accessible education,” states Marvin Duarte, HCCF Board of Directors Chair. “With this partnership and the support of our Halton Catholic Community, we know we can make a significant difference to these students by helping to remove some of the financial burden of back-to-school and other basic necessity costs that can occur during the school year.”

The HCCF Back To School Campaign will last for approximately 5 weeks, from mid-August to mid-September, and is aiming to raise $10,000 from Halton’s Catholic Community. In addition, this $10,000 would be matched by an anonymous donor – making this a significant $20,000 fundraising campaign for HCCF. The $10,000 fundraising match will include monthly donations pledged for the year as well.

“The inclusion of pledged monthly donations as part of our anonymous donor match is really big for us,” continues Mr. Clare. “It means that if a donor wishes to give $20 per month, for example, our matching donor will match the $240 annual total of the monthly pledges – making our fundraising objective more attainable and donations more manageable for our community members. We’re very appreciative of this generosity by our anonymous matching donor. It means a great deal to our students who will benefit from this combined generosity.”

HCCF Back To School Campaign Highlights:

Make a donation from Mid-August to Mid-September 2021
Goal to provide 200 student backpacks with school supplies
Goal to support basic necessity requirements for students in need throughout the school year
Fundraising objective: $10,000 plus $10,000 anonymous donor match = $20,000 total
In addition, aim to acquire 50 new monthly donors as a result of the campaign

Concludes Mr. Duarte, “We all remember how challenging the first day or first day back to school can be. Learning barriers from poverty include self-esteem and mental health issues that we can help to mitigate in small ways. It can be as simple as getting a new pair of shoes and not needing to ask for handouts of school supplies to get work completed. It seems insignificant, but to our students, it can provide a huge boost of confidence and generate excitement about the journey of learning.”