WRPS extends Backpack Challenge; thousands of children in need this year

The seventh annual Backpack Challenge, run by the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), has been extended to the end of August.

The initiative was set to wrap up on Aug. 16, but over a thousand backpacks are still needed across Waterloo Region. WRPS Director of Corporate Affairs Cherri Greeno tells 570 NewsRadio, 7,200 people registered for the program this year.

Even with a large number of recent donations, Greeno said by the the end of the week, they expect to have around 6,000 backpacks donated.

“We’re just going to keep going, keep working and hopefully meet that need…There is something special about Waterloo Region, people are incredibly kind and generous. This program keeps growing every year, and it’s because of the members of the community,” she said.

This week teams from WRPS are handing out the bags that have already been donated. Greeno said the job of distributing the backpacks never gets old.

“It’s amazing, it really is. When you see these little kids line up and their faces when they see that backpack that they have always wanted, the sparkle, the mermaids or the unicorns, there really is no better feeling than that.”

Greeno noted the biggest need they have seen so far, is for older kids, meaning bigger and more durable bags are needed.

Donations can be dropped off at any police division:

• Headquarters, 200 Maple Grove Road, Cambridge
• North Division, 45 Columbia Street East, Waterloo
• Central Division, 200 Frederick Street, Kitchener
• South Division, 176 Hespeler Road, Cambridge

Not including the numbers from this year, over 16,000 backpacks have been donated to the Backpack Challenge initiative.