Charities partner to distribute school supplies to children in Halifax ahead of new term

Islamic Relief partnered with the Salvation Army to provide backpacks filled with school supplies to 300 children at the Nova Scotia Islamic Community Center in Halifax on Sunday.

It's part of an annual Canada-wide campaign by Islamic Relief. It partners with local charities to identify families that need assistance to get their children equipped for school.

For Ismail Omar, the local volunteer outreach manager for Islamic Relief, it is his first year working on organizing the event.

He said the aim of the campaign is to ensure that children are able to get an education without their parents having to stress about affording school supplies. 

The backpacks include supplies like pencils, crayons and calculators and are based on the age of the child and the school level they will be attending.

Keely Brower, the director of community and family services at the Centre of Hope on Gottingen Street, said the Salvation Army has an annual program to provide school supplies to families in need all over the HRM.

She said this year the Salvation Army has already distributed about 800 backpacks.

Brower said this is the first year they have partnered with Islamic Relief and it has allowed them to provide more backpacks to families in need.

"I think dignity is really important, right," Brower said.

Omar said a lot of work gets put into gathering the supplies but it's all part of Islamic Relief's work to help the community.

"Yeah, everywhere in Canada we try to do our best to give back to the community in any way," Omar said.