4 days ago
24-hour pack-a-thon assembling 2,000 backpacks full of school supplies for kids
Volunteers pack backpacks full of school supplies for families living in Ottawa Community Housing. Aug. 8, 2025. (Camille Wilson/CTV News Ottawa)
Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) volunteers are packing more than 2,000 backpacks in a 24-hour pack-a-thon.
Around 100 volunteers will assemble thousands of school supplies for children and youth living in OCH communities.
The Pack a Sack program helps to relieve low-income families that often make less than $2,000 per month from the financial hardship of buying school supplies, averaging about $100 per child.
The backpacks are filled with school supplies, lunch bags, water bottles, pencils, markers and geometry sets, providing students from junior kindergarten to Grade 11 with all they need to have a successful school year.
More than $60,000 worth of supplies were distributed in 2024, with even more expected to be distributed this year.
Backpacks will be delivered to families on Tuesday.
