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The Saskatoon Hilltops meet rivals Regina Thunder on Oct. 20 in Saskatoon.
Thanksgiving and the approaching holidays can be a trying time for many families, and the rising cost of food has left many struggling.
But for 750 families in Saskatoon life will be a little easier, as potash exporter Canpotex is giving three support bags to families with kids in schools.
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Zeba Ahmad, CEO of Saskatoon Public Schools Foundation, said schools help choose the recipient families.
“Teachers and principals will identify families who are in need, especially through the extended school breaks,” said Ahmad. “From there we get the list and we try to accommodate as many of the requests as we can.”
In total 2,250 bags were sent out in 2024. According to Ahmad each bag costs around $130-$140 to assemble.
Donations of food, hygiene products and more are being transported to schools across Saskatoon over 700 families will receive three bags each. @CKOMNews #YXE pic.twitter.com/GKTZ3tH30L
— Will Mandzuk (@WMandzuk) October 9, 2024
The bags contain multitude of useful items.
“Every family gets three full bags (of) nutritious food,” said Ahmad. “There’s milk, cheese, margarine, buns, and sandwich meat.”
There are also freshly baked muffins, deodorant and even toques.
The initiative started during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the need has continued to grow, said Ahmad.
“It’s been 750 for a few years, but we had over 850 requests,” she said.
Ahmad said the schools know that there are families that are grateful for the help.
“They’ve noticed the increase in food costs — and not just food costs but everything else,” said Ahmad.
“We get so many comments after, the smiles on kids’ faces, we get pictures or emails from a grandmother saying ‘if it wasn’t for you our kids wouldn’t have a Thanksgiving’.”
The Canpotex fundraiser is held twice a year for bags to be given out on Thanksgiving and again during the February school break.
“Those are really longer breaks and the kids need support,” said Ahmad. “February is a tough month — it’s very cold, it’s after Christmas.”
Ahmad said the group tried to identify times where support for families are lower than usual.
Other outreach groups in Saskatoon are also helping out those who need it during the Thanksgiving break.
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