More Than a Backpack: Helping Local Students Start Strong

For more than 30 years, The Salvation Army Ridge Meadows Ministries has been helping students in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows start the school year with confidence. Through its Backpack Program, a partnership with School District 42, local churches and community members, the organization provides school supplies to more than 400 students each year, from kindergarten through Grade 12. 

“We feel that providing these items for students gives them the ability to start the school year off on the right foot to focus on learning and their future success,” says Julie Gilfillan, Executive Director at Ridge Meadows Ministries. 

What began in 1995 has continued to grow, now supporting roughly 300 families and 400 individual students each year. According to Julie, the number of students served has been climbing by about 12 per cent annually. 

The Backpack Program also shows the power of local partnerships in action. This year, volunteers from The Salvation Army Ridge Meadows Ministries and Ridge Church came together at Ridge Church to pack backpacks for students across the community. What started with donated supplies became hundreds of completed backpacks, ready to be delivered to local schools before the new school year began. 

Ridge Church has been partnering with The Salvation Army in different ways for more than a decade, including supporting the Backpack Program and providing space for The Salvation Army’s temporary shelter. For Dayna Olson-Brooks, Pastor of Connections and Community at Ridge Church, the partnership is about supporting organizations that are already serving the community. 

“One of our models for local missions and how we approach it is looking for partnerships in the city with people that are already doing phenomenal things to help people in our city, and we come alongside, like we do with The Salvation Army,” Dayna says. 

That invitation to come alongside is one The Salvation Army hopes to extend to other churches, businesses and community organizations in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. Whether through volunteers, donations, resources or other forms of support, partnerships can help expand the reach of programs that are already making a difference for local families. 

For organizations considering how they can get involved, Dayna encourages them to simply start a conversation with The Salvation Army.

“If you and your organization or your church family has never had the opportunity to partner with Salvation Army, I’d really encourage you to talk to someone there and hear their heart and hear the stories of the impact of life change that happens through caring for people.” 

For The Salvation Army Ridge Meadows Ministries, partnerships like this make it possible to continue serving local families and help more students start the school year with the supplies and support they need to succeed. 

To learn more about The Salvation Army Ridge Meadows and to donate visit RidgeMeadowsSA.ca 

By: Julianna Acosta