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It will be a different and difficult year for all students this year, but school can be especially challenging for students from lower-income families. Each year, for many years, one of the projects undertaken by the RCOS Community Services committee is collecting, organizing and donating backpacks filled with school supplies. Back to school is an expensive time of year, and many families in Ottawa South struggle to fully equip their kids for the school year. This project benefits students who may not otherwise have a backpack, certainly not a new one, nor filled with great supplies. The Community Services committee uses funds generated by the Club's fundraising to buy the bags and supplies. Local retailers, Giant Tiger and Staples always provide discounts allowing our budget to go further and benefit more students. This year, all of our fundraising initiatives have been cancelled, so the discounts were particularly appreciated. This year 100 backpacks were given out. The Salvation Army Citadel distributed 60 of the bags, 20 were given to the Banff Community Centre and the remaining 20 were distributed by RCOS. Dave Gough, Mahamud Elmi, Rosemary Parker and Jeanine Parker arranged to get the bags and supplies; Jeanine even sewed material book bags as an added bonus in the package of goodies. Students received a backpack (with built-in wiring to charge a phone), book bag, binder, duo-tangs, lined paper, note books, pencils, colouring pencils, sharpener, eraser, ruler, and this year, a package of face masks and container of hand sanitizer. Moe Elmi and Dave Gough drop off backpacks and supplies to teh Banff Community Centre. Jeanine Parker and Rosemary Parker with bags and supplies at the Salvation Army Citadel. If you'd like to help out with any Rotary Club of Ottawa South projects, please reach out: info@rotaryottawasouth.ca
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