As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact families in Airdrie, one charity is preparing to do all it can to help ease the financial burden.
Stephen’s Backpacks Society (SBS) – an organization that provides backpacks stuffed with age- and gender-appropriate essentials for families and children in need – is preparing for a busy summer, with plans to distribute more than 1,000 backpacks and 300 teacher’s kits for the upcoming school year.
"We’re really buckling down and talking to our biggest supporters about how we can best impact families right now," said Executive Director Nancy McPhee.
"There are going to be so many families struggling with food and rent, let alone with buying backpacks, hygiene items, shoes and supplies for kids going back to school – especially families with three or four children."
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McPhee said the kits will be distributed to students in the fall, assuming schools are able to reopen by then.
"If we start in June, we should have no problems at all getting those things together," she said.
Like virtually every organization in Airdrie, SBS has also been impacted negatively by the pandemic. According to McPhee, upwards of 500 volunteers work with the organization annually. Those volunteers will not be available this summer due to physical distancing requirements.
SBS’s warehouse in Calgary is also currently closed to the public, meaning the only people allowed into the facility are the McPhees and the facility manager. McPhee said that means the family will be putting kits and backpacks together on their own.
Financially, donations from the public have also decreased, which McPhee said is something she understands and sympathizes with.
"People are tightening their belts so much, and I certainly understand that," she said. "I think we have to get more creative as a charity, and that’s what we’ve done – fundraising, sending out even more foundation letters and contacting all sorts of people for backpacks. We’re working with Walmart to get the best deal on school supplies."
Moving forward, she said looking for silver linings and positivity amid the doom and gloom is what the charity will do to get through the situation.
"I think that’s how we have to push on and push forward – to look at it in a positive light and keep our eye on the goal, which is to help out as many families as we can in September," she said.
As an example, McPhee said one positive outcome of the pandemic has been moments of introspection that allow people to take a moment to think about what matters most.
"Even though we are going through a really hard time right now, I think we’re going to appreciate life even more when this is over," she said. "I think you have to dig a lot deeper, and hang in there and be positive. Where there is a will, there’s a way."
As for the namesake of the charity, McPhee’s 19-year-old son Stephen – who co-created the organization when he was just six years old – is still working his full-time job at Superstore in Airdrie.
"He just really wants to help, in terms of keeping the dairy stocked, the milk stocked and the juices stocked," McPhee said. "He is just doing an amazing job and really keeping safe and keeping his distance."
McPhee added her son’s optimistic mindset continues to motivate her.
"He always reminds me what needs to get done, and his passion and his pure heart to make a difference keep me going," she said. "Stephen is relentless in his passion – he never loses that heartbeat and he keeps us all motivated to dream out loud and keep going."
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
