“Cheer Crates” delivered to hundreds of Saskatoon families in need

Volunteers put the finishing touches on more than 500 packages on Tuesday, marking their first “Cheer Crate” event in Saskatoon.

Saskatoon Public School Foundation’s Executive Director Zeba Ahmad said they would go to families in need across the city.

“It’s something that we wanted to do to take to the families within Saskatoon Public Schools and bring them some joy.”

The initiative was launched in late April with teachers and other community leaders recommending families to the foundation.

Ahmad says the Cheer Crates contain about $100 in products, including about $50 in food. Items like fruit, cereal, pasta, bread and eggs, donated by the Saskatchewan Egg Producers are included, along with personal care items, masks donated by the Open Door Society, skipping ropes, sidewalk chalk and even bubbles.

Nutrien also kicked in $25,000 to help purchase the items.

“We have enough that fortunately if we have larger families we’ll be able to give them an extra pasta, extra eggs, extra milk, things like that,” explained Ahmad.

The packages were taken to several schools where teachers and other staff picked them up and delivered them to the families in their area.

Ahmad says there will be another round of deliveries in June, and the hope is to keep it going throughout the summer, if there’s enough community support.

“I’m so glad that we’ve been able to reach those families, and they’ve reached out to us, but we know this need is going to be there for quite a while. We’ve had emails already coming from families of how excited they are to get this crate. We’re really excited that we can support them.”

Any family within the Saskatoon Public School Division that is in need can find out more information on how to get a Cheer Crate on the Saskatoon Public Schools Foundation’s website.