More than 1,500 kids will be sent back to school in a few weeks with new backpacks stuffed with supplies.
Craig Russell and Angela Pidutti, co-owners of PIE Wood Fired Pizza Joint in Barrie, along with a group of volunteers, slogged through the heat Saturday at Allandale Home Hardware where they were busy filling up 1,520 backpacks with everything from pencil crayons and pens to paper and hand sanitizer — all of which will be donated to children in need.
“Anybody that is looking for a little extra help to start the school year, we take the phone calls, see what is needed,” Russell told BarrieToday.
Last year, due to online school, the organization donated tablets instead of the usual backpacks.
This is a decade-long initiative for Providing Instruments for Excellence (PIE) in Education, a community-oriented program aimed to support kids in government-subsidized housing by supplying students with the necessary materials for educational success.
Russell says they typically like to fill between 1,500 to 2,000 backpacks.
“It’s more of a hand-up initiative. At PIE, we get involved with several charities and we are always happy to help out where we can, but this was something where we just felt we could actually order the backpacks, fill them, and talk to the local groups that would need the tools,” he said. “We are able to put the backpacks on the kids' backs and get to see the whole process.
"When you are dealing with these kinds of initiatives, that is just really exciting.”
Since launching the initiative 10 years ago, the program has provided more than 15,000 filled backpacks to children in the community.
Russell, along with former Barrie-area MP Alex Nuttall, came up with the idea for this program in 2012.
Nuttall, who grew up in government-subsidized housing, received assistance from people in the community at a young age and sees PIE Education as an opportunity to give back to the people and programs that helped him in his youth. Money to purchase the supplies is raised from fundraising activities such as the PIE Golf Tournament every July, which typically raises more than $20,000 annually.
“We are excited to see new and returning community organizations participating in the program this year," Nuttall said in a news release. “I can tell you from experience how important it is to have good school utensils for a child’s confidence, and this program has made that happen for another 1,500 children this year.”
This year, the program partnered with Allandale Home Hardware owner Adam Moulton, who also provided a trailer for volunteers to use to transport the bags to the various community organizations who will then distribute the backpacks to the children and youth they support.
“Our Home Hardware team is thankful for the support from the community. When asked to join PIE Education, our team didn’t think twice, and seeing the amazing families that receive the program and the buy-in from the community in support, this is such a fantastic initiative,” Moulton said. “We wish all the children a strong and safe year as they return to school.”
More information about the backpack program is expected to be released on Monday.
