An organization that started in Sarnia-Lambton, but has been helping local students, is officially expanding to Chatham-Kent.
Noelle's Gift to Children has been working to make sure students have the essentials they need to succeed since 2013, but is establishing a bigger presence locally with a new Chatham-Kent chapter.
To celebrate the expansion, it's hosting the first-ever Chatham-Kent "Light up the Night for Noelle" Spring race on Friday, April 25 at Mud Creek Trail in Chatham at 7:30 p.m.
"We're really excited that this will be, not the first event Noelle's Gift has ever done in Chatham, but one of our biggest, and the first run of this kind," said Leah Cabral, co-chairperson of the Chatham-Kent chapter. "To bring the community together and let the community know what Noelle's Gift to Children is about."
Noelle's Gift was established in memory of Noelle Paquette, a passionate educator who went above and beyond for her students, making sure they had meals, school supplies, and proper clothing.
"It all stems from Noelle, who her passion in life was supporting students in that way to make sure that they didn't have barriers, they didn't miss out on education or school experiences because of something that they might not have been equipped with," said Cabral.
Noelle's Gift supports the Student Nutrition Program, provides a reusable water bottle for every Grade 1 student, and almost every school has a Noelle's Gift Closet Initiative.
"Those are just closets full of necessities. So a kid didn't have a lunch that day, there's extra snacks. There's feminine hygiene products in those," said co-chair Caress Lee. "Backpacks, socks, underwear, just anything that kids will need," added Cabral.
All of the money raised from the "Light up the Night for Noelle" run will stay in Chatham-Kent to support local students through Noelle's Gift.
You can sign up to do a 5KM run/walk, or a 1KM kids race. Volunteers are also needed to help out at the run. More information can be found online at https://noellesgift.ca/events/.
