Thanks to the support of Cochrane's Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), it is estimated that over 200 children will get a helping hand with school supplies as they head back to school again this year.

The 'Backpack Program' has been offered to community members who could use a little financial assistance for back to school time over the past ten years. Realizing just how financially taxing September can be for families, Annemarie Tocher, Resource Centre Coordinator with FCSS, says they are happy to assist. "It started in 2009, so we are celebrating our tenth anniversary this year!"

Last year, FCSS made changes to the backpack program which were well received. With growing demand and spacial challenges, the program now offers gift cards rather than supplies, which Tocher believes is better for families. "Buying the supplies, storing them at our office, and building the backpacks was becoming really difficult for us in our space and quite taxing on our staff time. But the other big part was we were filling backpacks with back-to-school supplies based on the school supply lists, and we wondered if that was the most cost-efficient way to do things. We recognize that in many cases some of these families have supplies that they can carry over from year to year. So we hoped that this approach would provide more flexibility for families to choose what it is that they need most and a more efficient way for them to spend the dollars."

With no real change to our province's economic state, Tocher anticipates the number of backpacks the program provides will either be the same or exceed last year's total. "Every year before last year the demand increased by 10 to 20%. We know, just in terms of our demand for services out of the Resource Centre, there has been more need this year. So we are fairly confident that we will come in at the same number or even higher."

If your family could benefit from the assistance the Backpack program provides, registration is open and will remain open until September 13th. As in past years, families will still need to contact FCSS for eligibility requirements and gift cards will be doled out based on criteria. "We ask people to provide a copy of their GST return or proof of income if they are either an AISH recipient or on Alberta Works. But if they don't have those and are not attached to those programs but still financial concerns and constraints, then we ask them to book an appointment with a Resource Worker for their individual situation to be considered."

For community members wishing to donate to the program, monetary contributions will be accepted this year and community members are invited to do so at either Staples or FCSS. Cheques will also be graciously accepted and those seeking a tax receipt will need to donate through FCSS.

Thanking the Cochrane community for their continued support of this program, Tocher says she knows what a difference it makes. "We do survey parents every year about this program and we continuously hear that it makes a difference for them at this time of year. We will be continuing to survey parents on what other needs they may have with the intention of learning what other opportunities we could provide or create to support parents around this time of year. What has been consistently identified by parents are those needs around electronics with technology playing a much bigger role in schooling over these past few years. While we have no concrete plan yet, it is something we will be exploring throughout this year and what ways we could support things like computer access or scientific calculators."