Open backpack with mathematical set, ruler, notebooks and pencils CategoriesChildren Education

We Asked Kids What Was in Their Dream Backpack. Their Answers Will Melt You

It started with giving β€” and then listening. Last year, during Operation Backpack 2025, we delivered backpacks filled with school supplies to children who needed them: notebooks, textbooks, pens, pencils β€” the essentials. Because every child deserves to walk into class ready. But we didn’t stop at giving. We asked the children a question: now that you have these, what else do you need? Their answers were humbling. Not toys. Not games. A mathematical set. A ruler. A calculator. The tools they need to keep up in class, to finish their homework properly, to feel like they belong in that classroom. When a child’s wish list is a ruler, you don’t just hear it. You carry it with you. πŸŽ₯ They Asked for Supplies β€” Operation Backpack 2026 That’s the children themselves, telling us what would make the difference. We listened. Our volunteers had packed a thousand backpacks β€” zipped, checked, stacked with care β€” and delivered them to schools across Ghana and under-resourced communities across Canada. But the mathematical sets, the rulers, the calculators β€” the very things the children named β€” we couldn’t include. Not yet. We didn’t have the funds. Our mission is school supplies β€” nothing more, nothing less β€” and we want to do it properly, not halfway. So this is our promise for 2026: 15,000 backpacks, each one carrying what the children actually asked for. We can’t do it alone. We still need funding to fulfill their wish list β€” the math sets, the rulers, the calculators. That’s where you come in. 🧑 Donate now via Zeffy β€” help us give them what they asked for. Hundreds of children received backpacks last year. Thousands more are waiting β€” in classrooms across two countries, asking for the same simple things: the tools to learn. They told us what they need. Now we need your support to deliver it. The Shidaa Foundation is a registered Canadian charity serving children in Canada and Ghana.