Church helps students in need

With so many families across our city struggling with the high cost of living, parishioners at the Church of the Transfiguration wanted to find a way to help. In early August, the parish began a campaign to collect backpacks as part of the Toronto District School Board’s Backpack and School Supplies Drive. This program matches new backpacks and essential school supplies with students in need across the TDSB. This year, the need has been especially great as families continue to face rising costs of housing and food, along with the uncertainty introduced by tariffs.

Thanks to the generosity of the Transfiguration community, the drive was a huge success, and the parish more than doubled its original goal of providing 20 to 25 backpacks. On Sept. 7, 45 backpacks were blessed by the Rev. Karen Hatch at the Sunday morning service before being delivered to Valley Park Middle School in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. This neighbourhood has special significance to the Transfiguration community. Over the past two years, the parish has also coordinated an annual Lenten food drive, with all proceeds going to The Neighbourhood Organization (TNO)’s Food Collaborative program, which also serves the Thorncliffe Park community. We were thrilled to be able to support this vibrant neighbourhood in a new way as the new school year gets underway.

For more information on the TDSB Backpack and School Supplies Program, visit the TDSB website.