Back to school can be so exciting for kids! They get to see their friends again. They get a new teacher, new classroom, new desk and most importantly, they get to learn new things. Unfortunately, not every family has the means to get new supplies. So our staff wanted to help.
Last year, our staff raised $1500 worth of school supplies for children in need of them. This year, we decided to take this a step further and pack some backpacks ourselves. We got $3,300 worth of supplies and set it all up for our staff to pack them and send some well wishes to a child starting the school year.
Here at McConville Omni in the London and St. Thomas branches, we have 38 staff. So at both branches, we got enough backpacks and supplies for each staff member to pack a backpack. We are currently in a hybrid in-office and work-from-home work style. So some of our staff packed backpacks and others wrote well wishes to put in backpacks that were packed on their behalf. These backpacks were packed full of everything a child could need to go back to school fully prepared and empowered for the new year. Notebooks, lunch bags, pencils, sharpeners, calculators, binders, folders, notebooks—all of it!
We teamed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters London and Area to identify the children who would need them and deliver these backpacks just in time for school. We cannot thank them enough for helping ensure these backpacks got where they needed to be as we share their value and sentiment that young people deserve the chance to succeed. Having good quality school supplies can make such a huge difference in a child’s confidence and we are so happy to be able to help.
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