Demand for school supplies skyrocketing months ahead of school year, single parent association says

Despite the start of the upcoming school year being more than a month away, the Single Parent Association of Newfoundland and Labrador says demand for school supplies from families in need is already skyrocketing.

Executive director Jennifer Tarrant told CBC News the organization's back-to school program usually sees most of its activity in August as the school year approaches but 600 children and youth are already registered.

By comparison, 800 children were registered in 2023 and 400 were registered in 2022.

"We are estimating at least 1,000 requests this year for back to school and supplies," said Tarrant.

The back-to-school program provides children with the supplies they need for school, including backpacks, pencil crayons, geometry kits and scientific calculators for older students.

Tarrant said she believes the increased demand is tied to inflation and the rising cost of living families — especially single-parent households — are facing.

"We're in a housing crisis, we're in a rental crisis. Inflation, cost of insurance has gone up," Tarrant said.

"It's like so many different issues, but they've all cumulated together. And yeah, I think single parents are really starting to struggle more than they ever have before."

The group also supports families through a food bank, where Tarrant estimated she's seeing about five new registrations per week. That can range from families of new Canadians to single grandparents raising their grandchildren and everything in between, she said.

As demand for supplies is only expected to grow, Tarrant said the group is relying on donations and community events to help get the inventory they need.

"Luckily we have some really long-term committed donators, supporters," she said.

"There's no special funding for these programs.… It's just reliance on donations from people, private people, community and corporate donations."

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