For many families, the back-to-school countdown comes with a long shopping list — but Sun Youth is helping lighten the load, one backpack at a time.
The Montreal organization hosted its Big Back-to-School Party, bringing families together for school supplies, activities and community support.
At Sun Youth’s gymnasium at 7501 Saint-Laurent Blvd., children picked up backpacks filled with supplies for the coming school year, then took part in face painting, games, snacks and circus activities.
This year’s effort is bigger than usual. Sun Youth says it typically distributes about 1,000 backpacks, but plans to provide more than 1,250 this year as demand continues to grow.
Of those, 800 were distributed during the weekend event. The remaining 450 will reach children through community partners, including partner schools, youth supported by PRAIDA and families supported by La Maison Bleue.
For Marina Boulos-Winton, Sun Youth’s executive director, the value of the program goes well beyond what’s inside the backpack.
“Getting a backpack full of supplies can cost well over a hundred dollars,” Boulos-Winton said. “They’re starting the school year on the right foot. They have everything that they need to start the school year.”
For the children, the giveaway was more about the excitement of having something new to bring to class.
One girl quickly listed what she had picked up.
“Markers, books, and bag,” she said.
Then came the simple verdict: “I love school and I love my backpack.”
Another child was already looking ahead to the new school year, proudly showing off her backpack and supplies.
“I’m ready for school because I got my bag for the best bag in the world,” she said.
For another young student, it was the small details that stood out: “The pencil and the sharpener and the new bag and this dog thing.”
Asked how she felt about having it all, she had a one-word answer: “Happy.”
Sun Youth’s work includes a food bank and emergency services, but the organization also offers sports and recreation programs for children.
Guinness Rider, director of community services and sports, said those programs are an important part of helping children stay active and connected.
“It’s very important for these families and these kids to have access to physical activity, social activity,” Rider said. “All of our programs are built on education, mental health, and safety.”
Sun Youth offers 11 different sports and provides uniforms and equipment. Food bank clients can access children’s activities at a 90-per-cent discount.
The programs include basketball, tennis, football and ice hockey — opportunities that Rider said some families may not realize are available to them.
For one parent at the event, the backpack giveaway was another way to make a difficult financial calculation a little easier.
“I’m here today to collect the backpack for my children,” the parent said. “That helped me to save a lot. And that helped me to prepare for back to school.”
She added that her children were thrilled with their new backpacks and enjoyed the activities at the event.
The family also uses Sun Youth’s food bank.
“That means a lot to me because that helps me for my kids to provide even for food, not only for the school,” the parent said.
Boulos-Winton said many families who come through Sun Youth’s doors are newcomers to Montreal, making the organization a point of connection as well as a source of material support.
“A lot of people who come here are immigrant families, so they’re newly arrived,” she said. “It’s a way to welcome them to our great city and to participate in everything that it has to offer.”
For Sun Youth, the goal is not simply to get children through the first day of school. Boulos-Winton said the organization often sees young people who once benefited from its programs return later as camp counsellors, employees, volunteers or donors. It’s a cycle of support the organization hopes will continue.
