St Jeanne Antide Foundation

SJAF are seeking the support of a corporate team of around 10 to 16 volunteers to assist with their monthly fundraising pop-up thrift shop, held in Parliament Square, Valletta, during the first week of each month.

Volunteers would be needed from 8am to 3pm to help with setting up, managing, and packing down the stall. All items for sale and equipment (including tables) will be provided by the St Jeanne Antide Foundation in collaboration with HSBC. This is a great opportunity for team building while contributing to a meaningful cause that supports vulnerable families in our community.

To sign up for volunteering, please email Melanie Piscopo.

Since 2019, this initiative has supported children from families experiencing financial hardship by helping them access the basic educational supplies they need to start the school year prepared and with dignity.

For many of the families supported by the Foundation, the start of a new school year brings additional expenses. School bags, copybooks, stationery, art materials, calculators, shoes and other educational essentials can quickly become a significant financial burden for households already struggling to meet everyday living costs.

Through this year's Back-to-School Heroes campaign, SJAF are inviting organisations, their employees and communities to join them in making that start a little easier.

There are several ways you can participate:

• Organise a workplace collection of stationery and school supplies;
• Invite employees to purchase one or more items from their current needs list;
• Collect school or shoe-shop vouchers, which allow to respond to the individual needs and sizes of children;
• Encourage colleagues who prefer to contribute financially to donate towards educational essentials that still need to be purchased once donated supplies have been allocated; or
• Share the campaign within your organisation and networks to help them reach more people.

Find below a list of the school supplies currently most urgently needed. Organisations wishing to organise an internal collection are welcome to circulate the list among their employees and collect the items most suitable to them. Every contribution counts; there is no expectation that an organisation collect everything on the list.

SJAF are also particularly seeking support with white school trainers. These are difficult to collect as physical donations because children's sizes and requirements vary. Shoe-shop vouchers are therefore especially useful, as they allow us to purchase the correct pair for each child.

No child should feel different or unprepared for school simply because their family is experiencing financial hardship. Having the right school supplies can help a child walk into the classroom feeling prepared, included and ready to learn alongside their peers.

Should your organisation wish to participate, please feel free to contact them to coordinate the collection or provide any further information you may require.