Local organizations helping kids back to school, one backpack at a time

As summer wraps up and families start preparing to get back into the classroom, community groups are collecting donations of backpacks and school supplies to ease the load on parents.

For the first time over the weekend, The Fairy Godparents-London and Area, a not-for-profit organization serving London, had a backpack drive and filled 40 backpacks with school supplies such as binders, pens, highlighters and lunch bags.

"We budgeted for 40 backpacks, which we were able to hand out within 15 minutes of us getting to our location," said Eric Brocksom, member of the board of directors at Fairy Godparents and co-organizer of the event.

Parents and kids lined up two hours prior to the start of the event to pick up the backpacks, Brocksom said.

"There were about three people who came after everything was given away that were unable to get a backpack but, everyone who was in line was able to get something," he said.

"It was a huge success that way."

The London Backpack Drive is another community initiative that has been helping students head back to school fully equipped with school supplies in their backpacks for the last 10 years.

Their goal this year is to collect 1,000 backpacks. They're about 300 bags short of that goal so far, said Christine Crunican, one of the organizers. Rising costs for everyone has made meeting the goal tricky, she said.

"This year was a little bit slower in donations to start … We are hoping to get to a 1,000, not sure if we'll get there this year, " said Crunican. "I'm assuming lots of people are struggling. The cost of living continues to increase, costs of backpacks continue to increase. We're in a challenging economic time."

Brocksom said he's also noticed an increase in demand in the last couple of years.

"The cost of living for people in London, Ontario, Canada and the world it's gone up exponentially," he said. "It's definitely been noticeable, especially if we're talking about school supplies. The cost of a backpack which would have perhaps, two years ago been $19 was going for about $35."

Despite rising costs, Crunican said her group wants to continue collecting backpacks because it helps to alleviate the pressure some parents may feel during this season.

She and the members of London Backpack Drive want to make sure every child gets sent to school with what they need, in order to be successful in their studies. "Our drive becomes essential because it helps ease some of that financial burden for those families and those kids, and they can just focus on learning," said Crunican.

"The need for charitable donations from our community, we need to support each other. It's not just supporting what's vulnerable but it's also to help all the families who may not have needed help before, that need help now."

The London Backpack is accepting donations until Sunday, August 24th 2025.

Donations can be dropped off in Byron, North London, Lucan, Ilderton or near Victoria Hospital, University Hospital, and St. Joseph's hospital.

Pick-up arrangements can also be done.

Here's a list of more places in London helping children with a filled backpack with supplies:

1. Really Really Free Market

A Really Really Free Market is a big community get-together where everything is free for attendees. People are encouraged to donate usable items that are good for kids to use at school. Some bring food and drinks and others donate services such as haircuts or driving someone home if they don't have a ride. This year, organizer Zack Ramsey's focus is on back-to-school supplies.

2. Life*Spin London

Life*Spin London has been working on their back-to-school list for free shoppers all month. They've organized a list of items that would meet the greatest need of different age groups, including items such as new or gently used clothing, backpacks, school and office supplies. People are encouraged to drop off their donations on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 872 Dundas Street, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

3. Single Women in Motherhood

London's Single Women in Motherhood is hosting its first back-to-school drive, collecting school supplies until August 30th. Donations are accepted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.Their goal is to empower single mothers and their children, backpacks, lunch kits, notebooks and more will be available.

Londoners are heading back into classrooms for the first day of school on Tuesday, September 2, 2025.