On a Friday in late August, volunteers in bright blue shirts laid out a rainbow of backpacks, binders, notebooks and folders atop tables in Daily Bread Food Bank’s training room. They fanned out pencil cases and straightened rows of Crayola colored pencils. They were ready!
A stream of school-aged kids and their families started flowing through the room. Volunteers helped each child pick their own backpack, then fill it with an array of glue sticks, scissors, highlighters and more. Before the end of the day, 176 kids in need would leave Daily Bread ready to start the school year right.
This was the annual Back-to-School Backpack Initiative, which sister organizations wm+a and AlphaBee have been running for seven years, the last three at Daily Bread. Each year they also distribute backpacks in their Etobicoke office, equipping hundreds of kids in total for the year ahead.
“The day is amazing — it’s great to see all the kids picking their backpacks, the smiles on their faces,” said Marisa Dawson, the team’s managing director and volunteer lead. “It brings me back to the time when I was a kid and getting new school supplies, and you’re so excited because everything is so brand new.”
But after this event wrapped, Marisa couldn’t rest for long. She and her team of volunteers were already starting to fundraise and prepare for their other huge charity event of the year, Breakfast with Santa, for which they invite the kids who received backpacks to come to their offices for a free pancake breakfast, turkey vouchers and a personalized gift from Santa Claus (played by company CEO Dunya Marijan). This year’s breakfast takes place December 14, with the goal of helping 450 children.
Both events are supported through employees’ volunteer fundraising efforts, then Dunya ensures her companies match the donations collected.
“We are truly fortunate to be part of wm+a and AlphaBee, where our CEO leads by example in giving back to the community and finding meaningful ways to positively impact lives,” Marisa said. “Her dedication inspires us all to do our part in making a difference.”
Throughout the entire year, volunteers from both organizations raise the needed funds by holding comedy nights, selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts, giving out candy grams and organizing online auctions.
Then the employee volunteers shop for all the school supplies or Santa presents. Before Breakfast with Santa, they even wrap all the gifts. Each one is specially requested by the child’s parents, so it’s guaranteed to be a winner.
It’s heartbreaking to think about, but 23% of Toronto food bank clients are children ages 18 and younger (Who’s Hungry 2024). And families who access food charities have typically exhausted other financial options. They’ve depleted savings, they’ve borrowed from friends or family. So expenses like school supplies and Christmas presents are out of reach, or demand a sacrifice in another area, like food, clothing or medicine.
That’s why we are so grateful to the teams at wm+a and AlphaBee. Your incredible volunteer efforts throughout the year bring much-needed support to our neighbours in need. Thank you!
To learn more about these events, visit the organizations’ volunteer group website.
