Stephen's Backpacks Society

This is a wonderful letter we received today! Delivering HOPE and Changing Hearts is why we do what we do ! Dear Stephen's Backpacks Society team,... My children and I are clients of the Brenda Strafford Centre. I wanted to email you to thank you for your generosity and your donation. My family and I are safe, receiving supports and finally have a place to call home because of people like you. Art is one of my passions, and so, I created this piece to share as a token of gratitude. It represents my journey, and how I have flourished because of the care and support I have felt while staying at the Brenda Strafford Centre. For most, the holidays are a joyful time. But for some, it is the most difficult time of the year. For domestic violence survivors like my family and I, trauma and grief become amplified by the expectations of the season. However, this year is different. For the first time in years, we look at the future with hope and happiness. Over the past two years, we have grown together as a family, and are strong and ready to transition into our next stage of life. During this holiday season, we wish you health, happiness and hope for a new and bright year. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Sincerely, N (anonymity to protect identity) Survivor, healer, and warrior.

An amazing back to school program this year! With many Covid challenges with volunteers and fundraising cancellations we were able to help over 2300 children with the tools they need to succeed in school and achieve their dreams and goals! Our President Stephen McPhee is delighted with the results! No matter what difficulties we face, we will be there to help! Dad would be proud! Special thanks to Andy our warehouse manager, Stephen, Angelica and Ram for a great year! You ...all proved that with determination and hard work over 2300 children have what they need! What a feeling!!! Thata why we do what we do! See more

Here is the beautiful artwork!

Wow!! What a year! Special thanks to Filip and his great team for helping over 300 children going back to school with all the tools they need to succeed! Cascade Packaging we could not do this without your generous donation of over 300 boxes! Thousands of children will benefit for your generosity! Recipients will pick up this Saturday Aug 29th! Stephen says This year more than ever we need to be there to help families! Through all the hard work and effort our focus was just to get the job done and help as many children as we could ! A huge Thankyou to our warehouse manager! May everyone have a safe and exciting start to their school year!

Wow! We are almost half way there! Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers kits ready to help almost 2000 vulnerable children! A huge Thankyou to Cascade Packaging for donating the quality boxes, Highkand Moving for transporting our supplies, Airdrie Superstore for quality masks for our kits to keep children safe and Walmart for their generous donation! This year we have added 20 hygiene kits, a large bottle of sanitizer for the classroom and masks for the children! Special thanks to our warehouse manager Andy for sanitizing our warehouse and setting up an incredibly organized system to make this year such a success! Many children will have the tools they need to succeed in school this fall! A great year through these difficult times!

And we are off and running! Thousands of backpacks and school supplies ready to bring the necessary tools for vulnerable children going back to school! This has been a very difficult year for families financially! Stephens Backpacks has been working very hard behind the scenes during this pandemic preparing to support many children and teachers! We value our teachers and the difficult job they do every day supporting our children. This year especially we want to show our support and encouragement through teachers kits, each kit providing all supplies 10 children will need! This is for Elementary, Middle and High Schools! Stephen ‘s passion is to help as many children as we can this year! Every child deserves to have an equal opportunity to reach their goals and dreams! That’s why I keep doing what I do ! Says our Stephen.

A huge shout out to Staples! We received beautiful roots backpacks for our back to school program ! Thankyou for helping us help many vulnerable children going back to school ! We appreciate your support and encouragement !... A special Thank you to all the warehouse staff for their kindness !

Here we go! Today we received thousands of supplies and backpacks to help families and children in need! We could not even attempt this without the amazing work from Liam. Justin, Rose and Breanna from Highland Moving! For years we have received the dedication, support and hard work from the team at Highland Moving! They are far more than just a moving company ! They are a team that cares about our community and the vulnerable families within! Words can’t express our gratitu...de! We are very excited to bring hope to many children in need this year and give them the tools they need to succeed to achieve their goals and dreams! Special thanks to Andrew our warehouse manager for coordinating such a smooth and organized start to our back to school program! Thankyou Ang to you and Stella for your amazing focus and help today! Stay tuned ! We have a lot of assembling to do! Many children will smile and that is why we do what we do!!! See more

Reverend Margaret Waterchief passed away due to Covid 19 yesterday at 5:23. Margaret is one of the most compassionate and selfless people I have ever known! She dedicated most of her life to helping vulnerable communities ! She was very committed to our charity and our family! Our warmest thoughts and prayers are with her family! Margaret thank you for years of joy that you brought to so many ! We will miss you ! We will continue to support our most vulnerable and we dedicate our 2020 backpack programs in honor of a very wonderful woman whose generosity touched the hearts of thousands over the years! May her memory be a blessing!

With Much Gratitude We just learned of many deaths that have happened in McKenzie Town Seniors Home.! Many of these wonderful volunteers knit for hours every year for our charity. Our warmest condolences to the families. They have impacted the lives of many vulnerable children. We were proud to journey with them. They will be missed by hundreds of children in need and by our Backpack family! To all families who are struggling know that Stephens Backpacks will move to the fro...nt lines for our back to school program. Many of you will not be able to afford shoes , backpacks , supplies and other important items to keep your children safe. We will be adding masks, sanitizers, and gloves to our program this year! We are reaching out to any families and businesses who can donate to our Stephens outreach to Schools! Please donate if you can on our website. Every child deserves an equal chance with the supplies they need to succeed in school. We are also doubling our teachers kits to support teachers. 300 kits will be assembled by our family to help 3000 children coming into the classroom needing supplies. Every dollar helps....Stephen is determined to help even more children this year! Thank you Nancy McPhee Executive Director

Who says Angels Dont Drive Buses????? For years the owner of Tires on the Run has kept our family safe changing our tires ! Not only that he comes right to our door to provide this service! When I got my card out to pay Roger showed me a bill marked 00. Angels on Wheels made our day here at Stephens Backpacks a day to remember!... Thankyou to Laura , Rogers daughter who assisted with the tire change on all our vehicles! Heartfelt gratitude for such generosity during this difficult time!! Please support Roger and Tires on the Run! Amazing family with amazing hearts!! See more

I have stepped into my Dad’s shoes as President of Stephen’s Backpacks Society. I must say they are big shoes to fill! Ever since I can remember it has been my passion to make sure every child has their own bed to sleep in and their own home! My focus for my charity is to do exactly that. We are having our third annual fundraiser and it is called Country Roads Take Me Home! All proceeds will go to The Four Seasons of Hope where I want to furnish at least four homes a year i...ncluding new furniture, bedding, food, clothes and all the other necessities to make a home warm and safe. We have done 32 homes and I have attached a before and after with your invite. We also have given over 70000 backpacks to children in need across our province. Please come out and enjoy this fun country, family event. The adults will enjoy a fifteen piece fiddler band, great country singers , outstanding prizes and a down home country feast! I will never stop fighting for this cause and I would love for you to join me! Tickets are available at Stephens Backpacks on Eventbrite. Thankyou, Stephen McPhee

What an amazing school we spoke at yesterday! One of my greatest privileges is teaching children to value their parents, their dedicated teachers and to always Dream their dreams Out Loud! ! Stephen was able to speak with the children and answer their questions! One sweet Grade one girl stood up with such enthusiasm and said... What you have done is so amazing! I am so proud of you! ... Stephen humbly gave her a smile ! One of our treasured gifts in our charity is impacting the lives of our young people and letting them know how unique wonderful and special they are! And most importantly ...their dreams are to be Dreamed Out Loud!!! See more

It is hard to believe this year comes to an end! What a year it was ... The introduction of 150 teachers kits was incredibly received by many teachers! Over 7000 backpacks given to children in need ! The creation of the A Team ! Plans to execute the Four Seasons of Hope for 2020!... Special Thankyou to our corporate sponsors and treasured volunteers! We are determined to make an even more impactful difference to families in need in 2020! Happy New Year! The greatest gift is seeing the youngest volunteers making a difference! See more

Today We Crossed The Finish Line! For me the last day was filled with many emotions! This is where all our hard work completes our mission and the true meaning of Christmas unfolds! Our amazing volunteers helped all our recipients receive their gifts of joy for children in need! Carols played as backpacks flew out the door and into the recipients sleighs to deliver hope to over 3500 children. Mayor Nenshi joined in the celebration and commended the generosity of so many to co...me out to cross the finish line! His speech to our treasured volunteers was even through very trying times it is refreshing to see such goodness and generosity of so many here today! Even though so much in the world is sad and challenging we see good in a charity that gives a simple gift to bring hope and encouragement to a child! Even though our campaign for 2019 crosses the finish line we are busy making plans for 2020 to make even a more impactful difference! Stephen sends his heartfelt thanks to all those who dared to Dream Outloud with him!. See more

How sweet it is to make cookies in memory of my Mom to thank those very special people in our lives! I know you are smiling down Mom! I miss you!

Superior men from Superior Paint and Auto came to the rescue. What took 6 hours to fill the bus, these extraordinary men took 20 minutes to unload and bring them in to the warehouse. Merry Christmas to Ian and Mark.

School bells ring this season . Frank the driver for first student group, drove his reindeer‘s to schools and businesses all over Airdrie and Calgary. Santa himself made a special appearance at kids Quest school where he unloaded his sleigh of Backpacks. Stephen then visited his old high school George McDougall where boxes and boxes of kindness were waiting for him. From there we visited Heron Crossing where classes of grade ones gathered to hear Stephens story and share... their dreams. and then filed out one by one with joy and excitement to fill the bus. Our journey then took us to Nose Creek school where Robert greeted us at the door with his leadership team. Words cannot express what we saw when we entered the lobby of the school. What was waiting for us was totally amazing, Backpacks overflowing with Care and Joy. Then proceeded out of the school to fill the bus. Robert not only do you bless the children in classes every day but today you blessed many children in need thank you from our hearts. The route then took us to Little treasures were little angels loaded their Wagon of Backpacks onto the bus. For many years every location of Magic Mountain has supported Stephan and this year is no different at every door beautifully packed Backpacks flowed out We treasure our relationship that we have had for many years. A special shout out to Viiz Communications and Cory Liss orthodontics . For the heaviest Backpacks will you ever lifted. Are 20 minute workout for sure of the journey. Lol. A huge thank you for the outpouring of support from Evergreen School Foundation of the future Academy and Sam Livingstone we could not do this without the love and support of all the schools and businesses . For years First Student has donated the bus to bring these backpacks of joy home to our warehouse. It’s definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. See more

For the last six years, Scott and his team from Fraserway RV have been big supporters to Stephen’s Backpacks . This year they took it a step forward by actually coming and making backpacks with us. Their kindness and generosity cannot be expressed in words. What an amazing group Merry Christmas.

A huge shout out to Suzanne from our Superstore! What amazing gift baskets that will be received by two families from George McDougall Stephens high school! Wonderful backpacks will be delivered Wed for the children of these families! The true meaning of this wonderful Christmas season! Thankyou Suzanne for all you do !

North Point School for Boys A Fine Group of great Inspectors Three grades dreamed out loud at our warehouse inspecting hundreds of backpacks to make sure our Christmas backpacks were perfect! Woods Homes came to pick up their special backpacks! Merry Christmas to a wonderful organization for all you do in our community! ... Thankyou to a great group of gentlemen who did a first class job inspecting! Great school and great teachers! Happy Holidays to one and all! See more

Boardwalk Residents Knit Beautiful Gifts for Children in Need! For the past year seniors have worked diligently to make homemade blankets, slippers, mittens and hats to keep children in need warm in these cold temperatures! Your detailed work is excellent and our hearts are filled with great appreciation !! Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! You are our talented, treasured volunteers!

We are on the home stretch! Over 40 wonderful hockey players joined us to pack 1-3 year olds ! The atmosphere was filled with young women meticulously packing Beautiful Christmas backpack gifts of hope ! It was an amazing evening !... Special thanks to Barb , Andrew, Stephen and Kathy for your support in making sure the evening was a sparkling success! The girls even made backpack themes which was so special ! I felt quiet as I drove home and reflected on a day , one day soon where all 1-3 year olds have their own home a their own bed to sleep in! That will be the greatest Christmas gift of all!! Thankyou one and all for making this year so special! And on that note feeling a little tired I will say goodnight! See more

Half way there!!! Many times you think at this point ...how are we going to get through this! Lol When I look at these hundreds and hundreds of backpacks I see hundreds and hundreds of happy kids smiling!!!!That motivates us to the finish line! Thankyou to everyone who got us here !