Backpacks, back-to-school and how a yellow bus made all the difference for students in Ottawa

When the Caring and Sharing Exchange needed fresh ideas for their back-to-school campaign, a yellow school bus became the perfect fundraising vehicle.  

Stuff the Bus is the brand-new flagship event for Sharing in Student Success (SISS)—Caring and Sharing's summer school supply drive. It's beautifully simple on paper, involving a school bus parked at Carlingwood Shopping Centre to encourage passers-by to donate. The event occurred on August 20, 2026. 

When executive director Matthew Mitchell first started working at the organization in March, 2026, the need for school supplies in the Ottawa area was "alarming." That's why he and his colleague, Desiree Rapoch, came up with Stuff the Bus. 

"Back-to-school can be very expensive for families, and we provide assistance to those who wouldn’t be able to get the full range of what they need," he says. Despite the fundraiser's newness and a recent spike in program registrations, Stuff the Bus was a resounding success.  

Rising cost-of-living means a growing need for school supplies

With cost of living climbing across Canada, day-to-day items like groceries can be disproportionately difficult to access for those on low incomes. For many families, that means back-to-school shopping dropped down the priority list this year. In fact, the need for assistance has increased since 2023, says Mitchell.  

“Can we afford to eat, and can we afford our rent, or can we afford some back-to-school items?” Mitchell says, speaking from the perspective of struggling households. “When you take back-to-school stuff and compare that to a roof over your head, food on your plate, it sort of becomes minimal in that sense.” 

That's what the fundraiser's goal is—to take the pressure off, so kids can get what they need for school, and families can focus on the necessities.  

How Stuff the Bus cleared the waitlist

That said, the lengthy list of students in need was shocking to Mitchell and his colleagues.  

"We normally don't have a waitlist. This is the first year we've really had a really big waitlist like this. Like, in the past, we were short maybe 200 to 250ish [school supply kits]." 

This year, over 2,000 students were still on the waitlist by the time Stuff the Bus rolled around.  

But what truly blew Mitchell and his colleagues away was that through Stuff the Bus alone, they were able to clear approximately 1,500 students off that list. Within about two weeks of the event, every student on the waitlist received the supplies they needed to start the year. CAA North & East Ontario donated $5000 to help the organization meet the need. 

“We had no expectation of what the community response would be, because we hadn't done this before, so we really didn't know. And it was really quite amazing to see how individuals, but also service groups, and companies, and businesses in the area” showed up to support students, according to Mitchell.  

Backpacks are expensive, making them difficult to access

The fundraiser's most-needed item is, without question, a backpack.  

"Not necessarily a high-quality backpack, but a backpack that’ll last the school year,” says Mitchell. "That is, essentially, the single largest expense of all the things on the back-to-school list.” There is also a strong need for lunch bags.  

Although a backpack may seem insignificant for some—both in terms of price and impact—Mitchell stressed that having the right supplies can dramatically change a child's educational experience.  

A backpack can change a child's time in school

“I always ask people to think of when they went back to school. No matter what age you are right now, everybody’s back-to-school memories are very similar. You're excited for back-to-school. There's a nervousness attached to it. You’re happy, but you’re a little bit hesitant." 

Imagine, he says, that on top of that uncertainty, you don't have everything you need on the first day. "You’re now looking at it through the lens of potential stigma, potential to feel embarrassed, to feel less excited than somebody who has the supplies to start school." 

Thirty-nine point three per cent of all Canadian children experience some form of material deprivation—with 4.6 per cent specifically lacking necessary school supplies. The effects of that reality, and the shame associated with it, are far-reaching, influencing a child’s attitude about learning through high school and beyond.  

“Education is one of the biggest gateways out of the low-income threshold for children as they age up," Mitchell stresses, emphasizing the positive outcome of "never having to experience that [feeling of] not having enough, that feeling of not fitting in." 

That first day feeling makes students excited to learn

Mitchell has seen firsthand how students react to their new supplies. 

“It's a really big deal for them," he says. "And it doesn't really matter what age the children are. I'm going to be honest with you. It’s more or less the same. I mean, you have some high schoolers who are pretending to be cool and not super interested, but I know they are.”   

Stuff the Bus really resonated with people, according to Mitchell—from donors to families. And from just one fundraiser, thousands of Ottawa-area kids will start school with the confidence and excitement they need to learn.  

"Being able to see it is kind of magical, honestly," Mitchell says. "It's very beautiful. I don't know another word to describe it." 

A donation makes the difference for a child  

SISS aims for students to have their school supplies by the first day of school. Although Stuff the Bus has cleared the waitlist, there can still be a need beyond day one—especially for new Canadians or children who have experienced a disruption in their lives.  

Direct donations are the best way to help; sixty dollars equips one student for school. If there are no remaining children in need for this year, those donations will carry over to buy supplies for 2027.