College students donate supplies to homeless youth Kingston, Ont. – Kingston

Students from Queen’s College and the Royal Military College are providing essentials for youth experiencing homelessness in Kingston, Ont. through a supply and packaging program.

Celina Lovisotto, a student at Queen’s University and her team at Promise bag made their first delivery to the Kingston Youth Shelter on Saturday.

“Our goal is to provide these young people with reusable bags filled with essentials they may be lacking,” she said.

Lovisotto co-founded the ‘Pocket of Promise’ group in the spring of 2021 with her friend Brooke Baker.

It was Baker’s personal experience with homelessness while living in Calgary that inspired the project.

“I’ve always admired Brooke and thought that if she could get to the same point where I can… without a lot of resources, then anyone would be able to,” says Lovisotto.

“We can start to end this division and have conversations soon.”

According to the United Way of KFL&A, there are still significant divisions.

One in five people living in homeless shelters in Canada is a young person, and that number has historically been higher than in Kingston – one in three.

However, United Way’s 2021 report on youth homelessness shows the numbers are getting better, and efforts like this one should help.

Student groups from Queen’s and RMC delivered 30 backpacks filled with essentials, all donated by businesses and local community members.

Anne Brown, CEO of the shelter, said: “It is truly lovely to see a group of people, the same age as those accessing our system… deeply care about those less fortunate. as they are.

Brown said a lot of the shelter’s clients come to them in times of crisis, with only the clothes on their backs.

“They come to us for a variety of reasons and it just takes a heavy load off their shoulders.”

Shelter manager Catherine Oxford says these donations allow young people to take classes and live their lives with the same resources as their peers.

“It’s hard to focus on bigger goals when you’re not meeting your basic needs,” says Oxford.

The student-led Bags of Promise organization continues to accept donations, with plans to provide more bags for shelters in the spring.