'More than just warmth': Island woman delivering sleeping bags for children in poverty
'It offers a little bit of coziness and a little safety place,' says Rachel Peters
A P.E.I. woman is fundraising to bring a little bit of warmth and coziness to the many children on P.E.I. who are living in poverty.
Rachel Peters got the idea while delivering food, gifts and toiletries on Christmas morning through the Santa Angels program.
"I was noticing as we went house to house that there was a lot of basic needs that weren't being met, and blankets for warmth was one of the things we noticed that was missing," Peters said.
"I feel like a sleeping bag offers more than just warmth. It offers a little bit of coziness and a little safety place for them to be at night. I also feel like it's a transitional piece to take with them from place to place, as that happens a lot."
Peters has set a fundraising target of $20,000 to buy sleeping bags to distribute to children living in poverty this Christmas season, and is more than halfway to that goal. She has arranged to buy them from Canadian Tire at cost.
According to Campaign 2000, almost one in five children on P.E.I. were living in poverty in 2015.
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With files from Laura Chapin