For the second year in a row, the Regina Regional Women’s Committee, Human Rights Committee and Area Council held a fundraiser to collect school supplies for inner-city youth.
The idea originated from members on the Regina Area Council, who were interested in doing a school supply drive similar to those done in Winnipeg and Edmonton. Melissa Brandt, a member of all three PSAC Committees in Regina, took the idea to the other Committees and the joint-project, “Community Helping Hands Project”, was born.
“It’s about dignity,” says Brandt, Secretary for the Regina RWC. “Our collective donations provide these youth with an opportunity to go to school on their first day with all the supplies they need to support them in their learning, so they can better themselves for the future.”
For the past two years the Committees have collected school supplies for Ranch Ehrlo Society, a charitable organization dedicated to providing support and community services that improve the lives of children, youth and their families, to distribute to inner-city youth. In 2011, 20 youth were assisted through the effort. For 2012, the number more than doubled, with 45 youth receiving supplies from the nine large boxes collected by the Committees.
“Often, while members are shopping for school supplies for their own children, they’ll just buy two sets of everything and bring one set in to work for donation.”
Brandt says the Committees plan to make this an annual, ongoing project.
This work also complements the efforts of all three Committees and Locals to collect extra toiletries on their travels for donation to community organizations in need.