Imagine having to choose between paying rent and buying groceries, or buying your kids school books, pens, pencils and paper.

Many low income families don't have to imagine the scenario. It's reality, explained Monique Beaudoin, health promoter for the Centre de santé communautaire du Grand Sudbury (CSCGS).Outside of Christmas, it's the time when families are likely to spend the most money.

While there is often support for low income families around Christmas time, when the CSCGS polled its member families it found there was almost no support for another financially stressful time — late August and early September, when children return to school.

"The average Canadian family spends $800 to $1,200 (each year) per child," to prepare for school, Beaudoin said, and it's an expense some families can't afford.

Since January, Beaudoin and a team of volunteers from the CSCGS and other organizations in Greater Sudbury funraised and gathered supplies for the first Back to School Community Store, which ran from Aug. 23 to Aug. 26.

The store was not only for low income families, but families also finding themselves in tight "financial crisis" situations, like Crystal Borson. She was at the store with three of her four children, Luke, 11, Lanina,9, and Owen, 4.

"We just moved here (from Saskatchewan)," Borson said. "Money is tight."

As Luke and Lanina showed off their backpacks full of pens, paper, and notebooks, Borson said she was grateful for the store.

"It's one less thing to worry about."

The store's model is based off one that runs in Montreal, Que. Eligible families are able to purchase back to school supplies at 10 per cent of the normal in-store cost, and can also pay through donating time and volunteering.

"We treat each (volunteer) hour like an hour at minimum wage," Beaudoin said. The "wages" earned during volunteer work is then deducted from the total cost of the supplies purchased from the store.

Families had to pre-register at the store, and while it was able to help 175 children, 200 had to be turned away. Families will be contacted if there are leftover supplies, though.

Toni Paquette was one of the volunteers at the store. Her two children were also able to take part in the event.

"We didn't go overboard," she said. "We only got the necessities. We had some things left over from last year. Why take a package of pens when you already have some, and another family might not?"

The CSCGS and its partners managed to raise $10,000 in money and supplies for the store. Beaudoin said she hopes to run the event next year, but bigger, so children won't be turned away. Some of the children she saw this year won't be back next year, as families climb out of poverty, or the special circumstances of the moment pass and finances stablize.

"But some (people) can't move out of poverty," she said. "Whether it's because someone is sick in the family, or someone has special needs, some just don't get out of the cycle." She said parents still want the best for their children, though, and events like this help.

The event also allowed special organizations to set up information booths to help inform parents of what organizations are in the community to help. One organization was the Human League, which runs a breakfast club in several local schools and helps kids participate in extra-curricular activities through the Positive Leisure Activities for Youth (P.L.A.Y.) program.

"People aren't aware these organizations exist," Beaudoin said. "It's not going to get them out of poverty, but it can make a difference."

Making a difference