For every backpack Coco Village sells in August, it’s offering one to a foundation that specializes in helping kids in need. The Montreal-based company will work with Regroupement Partage in Quebec, Stephen’s Backpacks Society in the rest of Canada and the Kids in Need Foundation in the United States.
“The back-to-school season can be a very exciting, yet very stressful time for young children,” said Coco Village co-owner Yoann Desrosiers in a media release. “Many children are showing up to their first day of class with brand new clothes, notebooks, lunch boxes, confidence beaming.
“Unfortunately, on the other side of the spectrum, there are as many who do not have that opportunity. We wanted to do our part, and level the playing field for any kid that is in need.”
Coco Village promotes a variety of educational children’s toys and has a belief that learning through confidence is the key to a successful education.
“Our twin boys are entering Kindergarten this year and I can only hope they will be able to be happy and confident when the school bell rings,” said Coco Village’s other co-owner, Dominik Larose, in the release. “If Coco Village can offer that sensation of confidence and happiness to kids across North America with a simple gesture of giving a bag, it’s the least we can do.”
Montreal-based Regroupement Partage works to advance and develop sustainable solutions in food security by bringing together and supporting local organizations. It works with partners from the community as well as the business, political, public, health, union and philanthropic sectors.
Inspired by five-year-old Stephen McPhee, who wanted to help children in need by making backpacks filled with necessities for them, Stephen’s Backpacks Society officially launched in Calgary in January 2008. Its goal is to end family homelessness and, through community and corporate donations, has been able to help get dozens of families permanently off the street and deliver thousands of backpacks.
The Roseville, Minn.-headquartered Kids in Need Foundation formed in 1995 and believes every American child should have equal opportunity and access to a quality education. The national non-profit organization partners with teachers and students in under-resourced schools to provide support for teachers to teach and learners to learn.