We are always happy to share with you some of the exciting projects we contribute to in our community.  We think it’s important as business owners, and moms, to give back when we can.

Partnering as the school supplier for Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa’s Tools4School program couldn’t have been a better fit.

From their website:

CAYFO’s Tools4School program collects the much-needed supplies for school-aged children in the Ottawa community through donations, community wide supply drives, strong partnerships and corporate challenges. Since 2000, CAYFO has given out over 16,000 backpacks to children and youth in need. While we are proud of our success in the past and our ability to provide for those in need, we strive to greatly increase these numbers in the future.

Last year, Tools4School received almost five-thousand requests for school supplies and was able to fill over 60% of these requests. In light of the recent change to the Ontario education system with full-day  kindergarten and the onset of HST taxation, the Ottawa community anticipates that there will be an even greater demand for school supplies than ever before. That being the case, this year it is our goal to fill at least 75% of the total number of requests that the program receives and we cannot do this without the help and support of Ottawa area sponsors.

Best Tools for Schools is happy to work with CAYFO to provide the school supplies that so many children in Ottawa need this year. 

For more information, visit the CAYFO website.

We will also be at the launch of the 2010 campaign at the United Way today (Tuesday, July 13^th).  We hope to see you there.

We understand how stressful back to school shopping can be.  Not only are there school supply lists to shop for (which is why we started Best Tools for Schools), but new clothes, new shoes and backpacks to buy.  All of this makes for a stressful, and expensive time of year.

Unfortunately, too many children in our school systems simply can’t afford to purchase all of these items. 

We want to help.

That’s why we created our Supplies for Smaller Scholars Program.  Individuals and businesses can donate kits to kids in need simply by purchasing one or more on our website.

Kits are delivered to schools (in towns BTFS services) for September and school principals determine which children at their school are most in need.

We’ve been donating kits since the beginning of Best Tools for Schools.  Our philosophy is that in order for our children to succeed, other children need to as well.

Best Tools for Schools wants to give all children the best start with the best supplies.

Interested in donating a kit?  Here are the simple step-by-step instructions (or proceed online and follow the prompts):

1. Visit our website at www.toolsforschools.ca
2. In the ‘Enter your 5 digit code’ box type one of the following:
   1. 00001 for a Junior Kit
   2. 00002 for a Senior Kit
   3. Click ‘Find’
   4. Click ‘Buy the Kit’
   5. Enter the following:
      1. For ‘First Name’: Donation
      2. For ‘Last Name’: Kit
      3. Select ‘Buy the Kit’
      4. At the check out, you can purchase more donated kits, or simply click ‘proceed to checkout’.  You will then be taken to Paypal for payment.

For businesses who would like to donate more than 10 kits please contact us at 1-866-980-1133.

We can’t thank you enough for helping us make the school day a little bit easier for many students.

This is the time of year we naturally turn our thoughts to helping those in need.  It is a time of great hope and the spirit of giving is strong.  That is why we’d like to tell you about a great Canadian organization, CanadaHelps.

Canada Helps is the only charity that promotes and secures online donations for more than 85,000 charities across Canada.  They are currently running their 1st Annual Contest – The Great Canadian Giving Challenge .

So here’s the challenge.  Set up a Giving Page and raise funds for the registered Canadian charity of your choice using social media tools like Twitter and Facebook.  In addition to all the donations generated for the charities, Canada Helps is offering an additional $15,000 in prizes for charities. Prizes will be given for two categories: the GivingPages that raise the most funds and those that attract the most donors. Besides experiencing ‘warm fuzzies’ for helping out a charity, CanadaHelps enters every GivingPage owner into a draw for an iPod Shuffle every week.  The contest closes on December 20, 2009 at 12 noon ET. So get your Santa hat on and help those that need it most this time of year.

If you’d like to find out more, please visit the Giving Challenge.

Paul Rushforth is a successful Ottawa realtor with heart.  When a local OPP officer was critically hurt in the line of duty, Paul was one of the first to rally the troops to help his young family with basic needs.  He also auctioned off his own Ottawa Senators tickets ( a hot commodity in Ottawa) to help raise funds for the family.

Paul also joined forces with us for our United Way Community Day of Action.  Without blinking he provided binders and pencils boxes for 15o local kids in need AND loaned us his truck to transport all the goodies to the United Way head office.

Paul’s business is very successful and he doesn’t need to contribute for the “press”.  He contributes because he has heart and we like that.

If you’re looking for great advice on real estate, check out Paul’s blog Realty Bites.  And when it’s time to buy or sell we hope you’ll consider Paul.

Philanthropy has been part of our business plan from the very beginning.  So we were delighted when United Way Ottawa approached us and asked if we’d be interested in sponsoring one of four Community Day of Action.  Keeping in line with our belief that all kids should have the proper tools to succeed we jumped at the opportunity.

On September 30 we pulled into the United Way Head Office with enough supplies for 150 local kids.  United Way provided volunteers from the RCMP and the DND.  By the end of the day there were some very happy kids in Ottawa.  We are inspired to do even more next year by partnering with like-minded business people who want to help. Let us know if you’d like to join us.

Assembling boxes

Packing Kits

Two of our lovely volunteers

Junior Kits ready to go

Paul Rushforth loaned us his truck to get the supplies to United Way!

When we were seeking out a supplier for our facial tissue, Irving Tissue, makers of Royale facial tissue were the easy choice. First, they’re Canadian and we’re partial to Canadians.  Second, they have a great product and provided us with exceptional customer service.  Finally, they have a strong commitment to the environment and we LOVE that.  With children of our own we take comfort in knowing that Irving Tissue has :

1. planted over 770 million trees throughout 50 years of award-winning responsible forest management
2. Irving is partnering with Tree Canada to sponsor a community support and education program.  The new TREES BY THE SHORE program is a coast-to-coast initiative to plant over 35,000 trees in 2009 to help preserve shoreline habitat.

For more information you can click here and here. We hope you’ll throw your support behind this great company not just at back to school with our kits but all year round.  We do!

Starting a business is hard work and it helps to seek out people who’ve been in the start-up trenches.  We have been lucky enough to get to get to know Ion Aimers.  Ion is a business savvy, affable man with a big voice and a big heart to match.  Ion owns a very successful chain of restaurants called The Works.  If you haven’t eaten there before, let’s just say you are missing out on THE best burger of your life.

We’d like to thank Ion for donating 30 school supply kits to kids in need through our Supplies for Smaller Scholars program.  Ion believes as much as we do that a business should give back and be involved in their community.

You can check out Ion’s website here www.worksburger.com If you’ve had a great experience with Ion or The Works leave a comment below.  We’re sure Ion will see it.

We’ll be at United Way Ottawa’s Campaign Launch on Wednesday, September 23rd.  More information here Campaign Launch.  Look for us, we’d love to meet you.

Calling all Presidents, Directors, CEOs and CFOs!  Contributing to your local community makes good business sense!   Every profitable business owes its success to its customers – and they come from the community.  Giving back shows local residents your sincere desire to help.

As supply lists get longer each year, many families are finding they cannot afford even the most basic school supplies.  At Best Tools for Schools, we are committed to helping every child succeed in school.  We have launched a corporate donation program which allows businesses to purchase supply kits and have them delivered to a local school.  These donated kits are filled with the same top quality supplies, and arrive in our signature keepsake box.  Want to know more?  Contact us and we can give you the details on how your business can help children in need start the  year off right.

Allowing your success to spread throughout the community creates a beneficial experience for all – and we love that.