This year's School Supply Drive will begin August 23rd, 2008. Donations will benefit school children in the Honduras and other developing countries. The ACCESS School Supply Drive will support the generous work of Dr. Andrew Simone, founder of "Canadian Food for Children", who will be shipping and delivering the supplies (click here for shipping details).

Donations of new school supplies as well as monetary donations can be dropped of at St. Marguerite d'Youville Church in Brampton between August 23 - August 31, 2008. You may drop off your items before and after scheduled Mass times as well as throughout the week from 9:00 am - 9:00 pm at this location.

Collection Weekends:
August 23-24, August 30-31

Item Drop-Off Location:
St. Marguerite d'Youville Church
2490 Sandalwood Parkway East
Brampton, Ontario L6R 3A4
(Corner of Torbram and Sandalwood)

Confirm your attendance on the Facebook page here!

In Canada, school students often buy brand new supplies every September. Many new or gently used pens, rulers, notebooks, paper, school bags, crayons, paint sets and more are left unused. When purchasing new supplies for yourself or your children this year, please consider adding some extra items to your cart for students in the developing world who may have very limited access to these items.

Donations of new school supplies will be accepted during the ACCESS School Supply Drive, and include basic materials such as pencils and pens, pencil crayons, sharpeners, erasers, lined paper, notebooks, scissors, rulers, and more. Below is a more comprehensive list requested by Canadian Food for Children, the organization which the items will be shipped and distributed by.

We will be accepting new or repackaged donations of:
Pens & Pencils Erasers Notebooks & Pads Exercise Books Newsprint & Foolscap Paper Dictionaries & Thesauruses Construction Paper Scissors Glue Rulers	Pencil Crayons Marking Pens & Felt Pens Paint Sets & Brushes School Bags Chalk and Brushes Small Chalk Boards File Folders Duotangs Chart Paper & Paper Rolls Math Sets

To confirm event details on this drive, please visit the event page on Facebook by clicking here.

Thank you for your support!

Daniel Francavilla
Founder and President
ACCESS: Allowing Children a Chance at Education, Inc.

Last year's event, hosted by ACCESS through student volunteers and members of the Youth Ministry at St. Marguerite d’Youville Parish, ran over three weekends and concluded on September 2nd, 2007.

“Donating supplies directly helps make citizens aware that they can in fact make a difference in the world,” student Daniel Francavilla explained. “As well, I think it’s a great time to remind ourselves of those less fortunate, while we do our back-to-school shopping.”

Others preferred to make monetary donations, which amounted to $1350.00 at this event. Funds were spent to further develop projects funded by ACCESS, such as purchasing school uniforms for students in the Dominican Republic and improving school facilities in Colombia.

All of the supplies were sent to developing countries in need, such as a school in the Honduras with over 2000 students. The supplies will be shipped through Dr. Andrew Simone’s Canadian Food for Children, a charitable organization whose warehouse is located in Toronto.

To read the full news release from last year's event, please click here.