United Way Niagara Backpacks for Kids initiative returns for 2025-26 school year

Summer is here, and as local kids are enjoying time off from their studies, United Way Niagara is once again preparing for September with Backpacks for Kids.

Vacation from school will be over in a flash, and to help prepare students for their return to class, United Way staff plan to pack 2,500 backpacks for youth in need of essential school supplies.

Every year, United Way Niagara supplies and packs thousands of backpacks full of school supplies to ensure that every child in Niagara has the tools they need to succeed. This initiative starts long before September so there is time to source the best products at the best prices, surveying schools and agencies to make the best decisions on what goes inside and figuring out where they all go.

Schools make requests for the number of backpacks they will need based on their knowledge of the families at each school. Agencies also benefit from United Way’s backpacks program with hundreds heading off to be distributed by Project Share, Community Care St. Catharines and Fort Erie Friendship Centre. Many of the bags are given to families directly, and discreetly, by their school principals.

The initiative is a one-day packing blitz in late August, happening at the Beatties warehouse on Vansickle Ave. Longtime partner Algoma Central Corporation will be on hand to help pack the backpacks once again. United Way is grateful for this essential partnership with Beatties and Algoma.

The event utilizes the Beatties receiving area, trucks for delivery and warehouse equipment to move skids of products where they are needed. Bags are packed and shipped same-day to school board offices for distribution.

Thanks to great relationships with suppliers, the cost per backpack to United Way is just $15. But with so many backpacks going out, the program still carries a large price tag. Support for the Backpacks for Kids program is always welcome as it is run separately from our annual campaign and requires additional funding.

If you would like to support Backpacks for Kids, you can donate online and note ‘backpacks’ in the note field or call us at 905-688-5050.

Learn more about Backpacks for Kids on our website.