Salvation Army New Brunswick Corps' Backpack Giveaway Brings Smiles to Young Faces

The girl with ponytails and a big white bow in her brown hair lit up when she was handed her new backpack.

She was so captivated by the purple and pink butterflies that adorned the backpack that she was speechless for several seconds.

“Thank you,” she finally blurted out. “I love it.”

This Salvation Army New Brunswick Corps’ annual backpack giveaway brought smiles to dozens of children’s faces on Friday, Aug. 19.

Two tables inside its offices on Handy Street were covered with backpacks. that were stuffed with notebooks, markers, pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, and other items.

Whether decorated with highlight-marker yellow buttons and zippers or made out of soft material like a stuffed animal or constructed dutifully monochromatic, they represented a small percentage of the 250 backpacks the Salvation Army had collected to be distributed to children ages 6-12.

“We want to impact the families that are struggling for different reasons,” said Captain Francisca Tripari. “They don’t have enough money to buy the school stuff for their kids to go back to school. So, with the support of different agencies from the community and people with a great heart to help those in need, this event was possible.”

Tripari noted that this is the first start of a school year since 2020 that students won’t have to deal with virtual learning, social distancing, and other protocols enacted in response to COVID-19. And although hospitalizations in response to the coronavirus have plummeted from the height of the virus’ spread, she said there’s a new specter lurking: inflation.

She said that this year’s backpack giveaway is important because the rising cost of consumer goods has put the pinch on people in New Brunswick, where about 40% of residents live below the federal poverty level.

Although the students might be too young to be conscious of inflation, Tripari and the other members of the Salvation Army New Brunswick Corps created small tags with inspirational messages and tied them to each backpack.

“You are smart,” read one tag, written in English and Spanish.

“You are unique,” read another.

Along with distributing the backpacks, the Salvation Army New Brunswick Corps turned its parking lot into a fair-like setting where community partners such as the Chandler Health Center and Liv Well/Vivar Bien New Brunswick passed out information on services and programs.

There was music, popcorn and games for the children, and raffles for baskets of prizes.

Most of all, there was a lot of smiling, young faces.

“I got a black backpack with yellow smiley faces and I’m really grateful for it and I think it’s amazing,” said Katheryn Alvarado.