August is coming to a close and it's almost time for the kids to head back to school.
Some children are brimming with excitement, while others wish summer would never end.
For parents however, back to school time means dipping into the wallet and forking out handfuls of cash to make sure their kids are properly prepared for their first day back in the classroom.
The average cost to equip one child (clothes, shoes, school supplies) is around $650, and if you have more than one child, those costs can add up in a hurry.
Enter a partnership between Brady Storage, Cooper Rentals, and Our Children, Our Future, who hosted Sudbury's first Backpack Buddies day on Aug. 23 at the Brady Storage lot on Brady Street.
Dozens of families flocked to boxes filled with binders, pencil cases, lunch bags, crayons, notepads and more, stuffing them all into brand new backpacks that were also available to anyone who needed one.
"I saw a post on Facebook about it and I thought it was such a great idea," said Nicole Lamirande, who brought her two daughters Alyssa, 6, and Alexandria, 7, who will be starting grades one and two respectively at Holy Cross this September.
"I give them full credit for putting something like this together. It helps the kids out, they get to pick their own stuff, and it really helps the parents. It can be so expensive when you're shopping for back to school, so this is really great for the community."
More than 200 backpacks were donated for Backpack Buddies, along with enough school supplies to outfit at least 200 children and have them ready for their first day back at their desks.
"I couldn't believe how much new stuff was being donated," said Melanie Pelletier, operations manager, Brady Storage. "I was expecting most of the donations to be used items, but a lot of local businesses and families really stepped up with donating all of this stuff."
The partnership between Brady Storage, Cooper Rentals and Our Children, Our Future isn't a new one, though Thursday's event was their first foray into the back to school realm.
"We worked together on a winter coat drive over the winter and we all discussed putting something like this together this year," said Pelletier. "We started the campaign in July, putting the word out and the response we got was tremendous."
Lynne Ethier is the manager of fundraising and special projects with Our Children, Our Future, and she was on site for Backpack Buddies, which was a whirlwind when the doors opened at 5 p.m.
"It was a crazy rush of people here today," said Ethier. "We're here to just touch base with everyone, to reach out to families and let them know what kind of outreach we're doing in the community."
Our Children, Our Future will be taking any of the leftover school supplies and handing them out on Aug. 28 at their Minnow Lake location. This is a by-registration event only. Anything left behind after Aug. 28 will go back to Brady Storage for next year.
"This campaign was started to accommodate local families with the burden of these costs and to help facilitate a seamless start to their school year," said Pelletier.
"This pilot campaign has been so successful and will run again next year with collection commencing in the spring.”
