Tuesday, July 29, 2025 Niagara, ON – Summer is here, and as local kids are enjoying time off from their
studies, United Way Niagara is once again preparing for September with Backpacks for Kids. Vacation
from school will be over in a flash, and to help prepare students for their return to class, United Way staff
plan to pack 2,500 backpacks for youth in need of essential school supplies.
Every year, United Way Niagara supplies and packs thousands of backpacks full of school supplies to
ensure that every child in Niagara has the tools they need to succeed. This initiative starts long before
September so there is time to source the best products at the best prices, surveying schools and agencies
to make the best decisions on what goes inside and figuring out where they all go.
Schools make requests for the number of backpacks they will need based on their knowledge of the
families at each school. Agencies also benefit from United Way’s backpacks program with hundreds
heading off to be distributed by Project Share, Community Care St. Catharines and Fort Erie Friendship
Centre. Many of the bags are given to families directly, and discreetly, by their school principals.
The initiative is a one-day packing blitz in late August, happening at the Beatties warehouse on Vansickle
Ave. Longtime partner Algoma Central Corporation will be on hand to help pack the backpacks once
again. United Way is grateful for this essential partnership with Beatties and Algoma. The event utilizes
the Beatties receiving area, trucks for delivery and warehouse equipment to move skids of products
where they are needed. Bags are packed and shipped same-day to school board offices for distribution.
Thanks to great relationships with suppliers, the cost per backpack to United Way is just $15. But with so
many backpacks going out, the program still carries a large price tag. Support for the Backpacks for Kids
program is always welcome as it is run separately from our annual campaign and requires additional
funding.
If you would like to support Backpacks for Kids, you can donate online and note ‘backpacks’ in the note
field or call us at 905-688-5050.