United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County has been supporting the local community for 75 years, and to celebrate this milestone they're taking the opportunity to raise funds to help local kids.
United Way is spreading the message about Ignite Academy, a new out-of-school program that will support local kids from Grades 2 to 7 and help them succeed academically, while wrapping other supports around the kids and their families.
Leslie Frattaroli, vice president of development, says anniversaries are a great time to look back on all that has been accomplished, but they're also a good time to look forward to the future.
"So we kind of took advantage of this milestone anniversary to highlight the brand new program we recently launched in September called Ignite Academy. So we thought it would be a great opportunity to share with the community this amazing work that's happening and how important the work is," she said.
Right now there are 4000 children living in poverty in the Windsor-Essex community.
Frattaroli says in some neighbourhoods it's even worse.
"Such as West Windsor, Downtown Windsor and Leamington, that number can go as high as 1 in 3 children in our own community living in poverty. And because of that it makes it really difficult for those children to keep up academically like their peers. So Ignite Academy is specifically targeted to support those children."
Data shows that 36% of children in these neighbourhoods are behind in reading and writing, and 58% are behind in math.
Frattaroli says there are big hurdles kids have to overcome, like hunger, mental health issues, lack of necessary school supplies, and limited help with schoolwork.
She says Ignite Academy was built to directly impact these hurdles.
"It's not just the academics, it's everything that influences children and their families," Frattaroli continued. "There's a number of areas in which we try to hit so that we are providing the family and the children with everything they need so that they can be as successful as their peers."
Ignite Academy was built to directly impact these startling statistics and United Way is one of 40+ ProsperUs partners delivering and facilitating the program.
Thanks to many generous donors, Ignite Academy launched in September with 360 kids across six schools throughout West Windsor, Downtown Windsor and Leamington.
The campaign launched at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, and runs through to 12 p.m. on Thursday, December 2.
Anyone interested in donating towards the campaign can go so on the United Way website or by calling them at 519-259-6147.