Catholic Foundation takes aim at student poverty

from Kingston This Week

Lynn Rees Lambert

You cannot learn if you’re hungry. Neither can you learn if you can’t read the board.

For these reasons, and others related to poverty, the Catholic school board has taken a hard look at the mandate of its fundraising foundation and changed its focus. They’ve decided to take direct aim at reducing child poverty and have created an Emergency Response Fund.

“I’ve been in education for 29 years and I’ve seen the face of poverty in each of those 29 years,” says Michael Schmitt, the director of education for the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board.

The foundation, which has been in existence for about five years, covered a number of areas, the director explains, mainly supporting arts, literacy and numeracy programs.

But it was a hard sell, he admits.

“It was difficult to engage the public for support when many believed these areas should be covered through government grants.”

This type of fundraising was also a bit of stretch, considering “every principal can identify a need for eyeglasses, an EpiPen or sometimes even clothing.”

And every principal and teacher is well aware that poor children face the greatest risk of health problems and difficulties in school.

With this in mind, Schmitt led the campaign to relaunch the foundation, with no paid staff, and start tackling basic necessities that some children lack.

Response was excellent, he says, noting that support has come straight away from the trustees, the principals, the staff, the Archdiocese, the schools and the students.

“This is in line with the teachings of the church, that we do our best to alleviate poverty,” Schmitt adds.

An Emergency Response Fund, with a reserve of about $10,000, will provide funds to support children and families in crisis. The request could handle anything from food to medical supplies, clothing or transportation.

“Every family situation is different,” Schmitt points out, but the needs are acute.

It’s already been tried and tested.

“We launched it on May 1 and we received our first request from a principal for eyeglasses for a student,” says Schmitt.

The request was approved and the cheque written.

And money is still coming in from the schools who participated in the Toonie Tuesday event May 1.