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Over 1000+ children and youth will be supported by IKEA’s new partnership with Mamas for Mamas this coming back to school season.

Photo courtesy IKEA Richmond

Over 1000+ children and youth will be supported by IKEA’s new partnership with Mamas for Mamas this coming back to school season.

Photo courtesy IKEA Richmond

IKEA Richmond proudly partners with Mamas for Mamas to support 500 local families for back to school

By Richmond Sentinel

Published 10:44 PDT, Thu July 4, 2024

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IKEA Richmond is excited to partner with Mamas for Mamas’ Vancouver branch to help create a better everyday life for 1000+ children and youth in our community who begin each year without proper back to school essentials.

IKEA Richmond will be collecting IKEA and non-IKEA back to school essentials for Mamas for Mamas Backpack program from Friday, June 28 – Wednesday, July 31. To encourage the community to work together, IKEA Richmond will match the retail value of IKEA “Back to School” essentials donated during the campaign period up to a maximum of $5000 retail value.

We know from the IKEA Life at Home report that many in our community are faced with rising living costs and struggling with fundamental costs such as housing, health and food. We recognize that this also includes back to school essentials needed at school and in the home to help children and youth thrive emotionally and academically.

“We are aiming to make a significant impact on the lives of children and youth in our community as they return to school in September,“ says Maria Valley, IKEA Richmond Communications Responsible. “As part of our commitment to contribute to fairer and more inclusive neighborhoods, we are proud to be co-creating an IKEA Neighborhoods initiative with Mamas for Mamas and our community.”

Currently there are 250 families registered to receive support through Mamas for Mamas Backpack Program. “We are seeing an increase in mothers and caregivers in crisis. As we are expecting over 500 families to be reaching out to Mamas for Mamas for our backpack program, we are thrilled to be partnering with IKEA Richmond and the community to bring back to school essentials to those most in need,” says Celena Arthur, director of National Partnerships.

Two ways the community can make a difference.

Matching donations. For every IKEA “Back to School” item donated at IKEA Richmond during the campaign period, IKEA Richmond will match with similar products up to a maximum of $5000 retail value. This means each contribution will go even further in supporting local families. A list of suggested products including backpacks, lunch bags, food containers, chargers, desks and more can be found at IKEA.ca/mamasformamas.
Non-IKEA essentials. IKEA Richmond will support as a drop-off location for non-IKEA back to school essentials. This includes rulers, erasers, geometry sets, memory USB sticks, and calculators.

Every donation, no matter how small, can make a big difference for a family in the community.

Donations of IKEA and non-IKEA back to school essentials for Mamas for Mamas Backpack program are accepted at IKEA Richmond, 3320 Jacombs Road, Richmond, BC V6V 1Z6, during store opening hour from June 28 – July 31. More details available at IKEA.ca/mamasformamas.