The Estevan Salvation Army is accepting registrations for its annual backpack program.
The initiative, which has been running for nearly a decade, will provide a backpack filled with school supplies for children in lower-income families. Registrations were accepted starting on July 20, and the deadline to apply is Aug. 13.
“It’s really geared to those with a low income and those that need the assistance at this time of the year,” said Ronza Reynard, the director of ministry at the Salvation Army. “Every year it’s a very successful program.”
Two years ago, the ministry filled just over 100 backpacks. That number dropped to just above 50 in 2020.
“We think the number was down just because so many people had leftover stuff from the school year being shut down early due to COVID,” said Reynard, who expects to see the number of applications up again this year.
The Salvation Army likely won’t be able to supply everything that a child would need for school supplies, but their objective is to offset some of the cost of going back to school.
The biggest expense would be the backpack itself.
Each backpack will include binders, paper, pens, crayons, pencils, pencil crayons, a pencil case and glue. They can’t tailor backpacks for each individual grade, because that would be difficult to organize.
“Even with every grade, different schools want different things,” said Reynard.
The Salvation Army receives good feedback on the backpack initiative every year. Green for Life Environmental has stepped forward as the full sponsor for this year. The community has always supported the backpack program, and if they have something they want to drop off, like school supplies or new backpacks, the Salvation Army will accept them.
“We also keep a few extra on hand. If there’s new families that move into town, and they’re restarting, and they need the extra help (we’ll be there),” she said.
The Salvation Army is here to meet the needs of people in the community. They believe some people need assistance with back to school shopping each year, just like they saw a need for the lunch program at Westview School last year.
“We’re always looking for ways to improve what we’re doing with the support that we get through the community,” said Reynard.
