Kits for a cause

For families preparing for a new school year, the cost of backpacks, notebooks, pencils and other school supplies can add up quickly. Thanks to a group of community partners, 100 children living in MHI housing communities were able to start the school year with backpacks filled with the supplies they needed.

Through Kits for a Cause and Meridian Credit Union volunteering to pack the kits, Multifaith Housing Initiative received 100 backpacks packed with back to school supplies for children in grade school. The donation provided a welcome end to the summer and helped ensure that children across MHI’s nine housing communities had the supplies they needed for their first day of school.

There was an added bit of excitement when the backpacks were distributed. Most children were able to choose their preferred backpack colour, giving them the opportunity to start the school year with something that felt like their own.

In total, the backpacks reached 100 children from 55 households across all nine MHI properties in Ottawa.

The initiative was made possible through the generosity and collaboration of several community partners, including Kits for a Cause, Meridian Credit Union, and the Eastern Ontario Resource Centre (EORC).

MHI’s volunteer program offers a number of ways for individuals, businesses and groups to get involved throughout the year. Through its partnership with Kits for a Cause, corporate and community groups can assemble care kits for families and youth in need. The program can accommodate groups ranging from five to 5,000 people, making it an accessible way for colleagues, friends, families and other groups to turn a team activity into tangible support for the community.

The 100 back to school kits are a great example of what can happen when community members come together with a shared goal: making sure children have what they need to begin the school year feeling prepared and supported.

Learn more at www.multifaithhousing.ca/volunteer