‘World of a difference’: Sun Youth supplying back-to-school items to Montreal low-income families
Posted August 19, 2024 11:39 am.
Last Updated August 19, 2024 6:40 pm.
With back-to-school around the corner, filling their children’s backpacks with supplies is at the top of mind for parents.
It’s not different for Mayra Cruz Roman. She and her family are from Veracruz, Mexico and they moved to Montreal over a year and a half ago.
On Monday, they took part in the annual back-to-school supply distribution at Sun Youth — an initiative aimed at helping reduce financial stress for newcomers and low-income families.
“From a financial perspective, it’s great help because the school supplies are very expensive and I have three children,” said Cruz Roman. “It really makes a world of difference.”
Cruz Roman says if they didn’t have this opportunity, her children, Luz Aurora, 11, and Shalom Sinai, 15, would have pre-used items instead.
The family fled Mexico due to safety concerns and will celebrate their second anniversary in Canada on Dec. 31.
“Every mother wants their kid to be happy when they go back to school, and to know and get the peace of mind to know that that expensive is taken care of,“ said Cruz Roman.
Luz Aurora, heading into sixth grade this year, says she picked the backpack with her favourite character: Super Mario.
“I’m very happy,” she said.
“This gives the kids a lot of enthusiasm to go back to school, makes it more fun,” said Cruz Roman.
Manager of emergency services at Sun Youth, Jorgen Ulloa-Aguilar says many depend on this help as parents will have to pay around $150 per child for school supplies, not counting textbooks and other materials.
“We’re seeing a lot more people seeing if they could get rent paid, medication, they’re hydro,” he said. “[So] adding all those debts well, now school supplies are also something that are very important and unfortunately something that they need to buy.”
Ulloa-Aguilar, said the organization is on par to give out 1,000 school supplies for 800 children, with with 600 going to elementary school bags and 400 going to high school bags.
Their most sought-after items:
- Backpacks
- Duotangs
- Duotangs with pockets
- Packs of large washable felt pens
- Canada Notebooks
- Lunch boxes
- 2-inch binders
- 1-inch binders
- Gridded Canada Workbooks
- Separators
- Loose-leaf packages
“We saw a large increase,” he said. “A lot more people were asking for school supplies but also schools itself messaging us to see what school supplies we had available.”
According to Sun Youth, it is not only families who rely on their assistance. The organization already donates supplies to three schools in its district — with this, teachers can supply items free of charge from the donated stock.
The distribution is taking place from Aug. 19 to 30 and Sun Youth said that many depend on this help.
