About the Program

Our Back to School program, in partnership with Canadian Tire Bank (CTB), is an annual support service aimed at helping students start classes with all the tools they need to succeed. CTB’s Snacks N Sneakers initiative provides partial funding for this program through the generous donation of sneakers and healthy snacks, helping Community Care kickstart fundraising for our school aged clients – in 2025, this was 1,700 kids.

All eligible children registered with Community Care attending JK – Grade 12 may apply for the program and receive:

• a backpack stocked with school supplies
• a variety of healthy snacks
• a pair of brand-new sneakers 

“It is important that students return to school with the supplies they need so that their first priority is to participate and learn in class. Any parent or guardian to school aged kids knows how quickly the costs can add up when preparing for another school year. Children are expected to return to school with at least two pairs of shoes (one for indoors and their outside shoes), numerous supplies and added snacks that keep them going throughout the day. It can put a lot of pressure on families who are already struggling to get the basics covered. Our back to school program aims to help ease that burden and help families manage.” – Betty-Lou Souter, CEO of Community Care of St. Catharines & Thorold.

When contacting us, please have your children’s current shoe size ready. If you are a registered client, we will work with you to make sure your file is up to date. If are not currently a client, you can still contact us and our team will walk you through the steps and help you register.

If you would like to support this program you can make a monetary donation here, or, email Jess at communications@communitycarestca.ca to organize a fundraising event.

Our most needed items include: senior + junior backpacks,  calculators, scissors, binders, lined paper, pencil crayons, markers, pencils, and shoes sizes youth 1 – adult 13.