Knapsacks For Kids

Thursday, 27 August 2015 13:45

Local Students will be heading back to school with everything they need to succeed thanks to Operation Sharing.

WOODSTOCK - Around 200 students are receiving backpacks full of necessary back to school supplies.

Student Randie Sawdon is grateful to have such supporting and caring people in the community. "It's nice knowing that I'm going to have everything, that it's not going to be a struggle trying to find everything the day before school or having the struggle to go out and not have anything left in stores - to know there's people here to help us."

Randie's mother Tina Sawdon says programs like these really show the best of Woodstock. "I came down with lung cancer a year and a half ago. So I just get disability now, like CPP. So buying all these extras costs a lot. And her sister's in university so she's already getting OSAP for everything. So every little bit helps. I think it's a great experience." She went on to say that Woodstock truly has fantastic community spirit; if you need help, there is always someone willing to put a smile on your face.

A few local companies also took the time and got involved in the cause. Coordinator for Knapsacks for Kids with Operation Sharing, Karen Bright, says she cannot thank the factories and other workplaces that get involved enough. Vuteq alone managed to put together 50 backpacks full of supplies and even sent along three volunteers to help distribute the bags. Ellen Hargraves with Vuteq's Human Resources says the whole company really gets involved. "As a company we try to get involved in a lot of different community activities and charity events. So this came up last year - someone had suggested it to us and we got involved and when we came and we saw the need for it, we really wanted to come back every year now and have our own volunteers here." Hargraves says there's even a bit of competitive spirit between the different groups within the company as they all work towards the same goal.