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Another successful year for Chilliwack’s ‘We Got Your Back’ backpack program

Sponsored by local businesses, program stocks backpacks with school supplies for students in need
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For the fifth year in a row, a group of Chilliwack businesses have banded together to ensure the school year is kicked off in style for all students.

“We felt it was important for the community’s kids to all be on equal ground (when they enter) school,” said Justin Mallard of Murray Honda.

So the dealership came up with the idea for the “We Got Your Back“ backpack program, which fills a backpack for a student with all the required school supplies for whatever grade they’re entering.

RELATED: ‘We Got Your Back’ needs help to fill backpacks for Chilliwack students

“But it’s a community effort,” added Mallard. “We’ve got a lot of partners who help.”

Partners like Staples, who provides all of the school supplies for the hundreds of backpacks that are filled and delivered to schools across Chilliwack’s school district.

But as the city continues to grow, so too does the amount of students in the district whose families need a bit of extra help getting the academic year started.

Volunteers gathered and assembled nearly 1,000 backpacks with school supplies for local students. (Caleb Vugteveen)

“This year we filled about a 1,000 backpacks,” explained Mallard during a telephone interview.

“In late August volunteers got together … and like an assembly line they filled all the bags. It was really quite cool,” he added.

READ MORE: Winter coats delivered to kids across Chilliwack

Once full, each backpack is worth approximately $60, although that can vary depending on the grade the child’s in. And from there, the bags are then delivered to the students.

“We hand the bags over to the schools and they distribute them appropriately,” said Mallard. Because each school operates slightly differently, as do the grades within those schools, it makes more sense for school administrators to hand out the bags.

And as the new school year also marks a change in the weather to cooler days, Mallard says Murray Honda is already starting to plan this year’s Coats for Kids drive, which provides winter coats for students who need one in Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar, and School District 78 through the help of a special sponsor.

Between the two programs, “we’ve put more than a half-million dollars worth of stuff back” into the community, Mallard noted.

“These are the sorts of things that matter, though. And we’re really proud of everyone’s efforts.”

For more information about either the “We Got Your Back” or “Coats for Kids” programs, please email Justin Mallard at justin.mallard@murrayhonda.ca.


@SarahGawdin
Sarah.Gawdin@theprogress.com

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