Teachers notice it, principals notice it, even school custodians notice it.

The empty lunch bag. The gym shoes that are three sizes too big. The sacrifices a family will make to afford school supplies. The student without snow pants on a freezing Ottawa morning.

That’s where the Education Foundation of Ottawa can help. The local charity, created more than 20 years ago, works in partnership with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to help educators fill the gaps when financial hardship undermines a student’s ability to learn, participate or just get through the school day.

And the Education Foundation of Ottawa does it in a very direct and immediate way, without bouncing families from one agency to another, adding layers of bureaucracy or asking them to travel across the city for help.

For the first time, the Education Foundation is holding a board-wide silent auction throughout November. The goal is to build the fund up as schools see more and more families struggling to cover basic needs. The fundraiser is being led by Nicola Powadiuk, principal at Bayview Public School in the Hunt Club/Riverside Park area.

Powadiuk also sits on the Education Foundation board of directors. She knows from past experience as a parent volunteer that an online silent auction can be an effective way to raise funds. “I did one for my kids’ school a lifetime ago and I was, like, ‘Okay, let’s try it again and see what we can do.’”

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board CEO Stacey Kay (third from left) with public school principals Richard Latour, Nicola Powadiuk and Megan Egerton, all of whom volunteer on the board of the Education Foundation of Ottawa, which helps schools respond quickly when students are struggling with basic needs. Photo by Caroline Phillips

To date, the auction has already collected more than $21,000 worth of contributions, including concert and hockey tickets, restaurant and hair salon gift cards, museum and gallery passes, hotel stays and gift baskets. There’s even a package from local ice cream shop The Merry Dairy that includes a monthly pint of ice cream for a year.

The EFO is volunteer-run, meaning all the money raised from the auction will go toward helping students in need.

“The needs are vast,” said Stacey Kay, CEO of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), the region’s largest of the four school boards, with more than 75,000 students from kindergarten to Grade 12. “Our school principals and our school teams see the needs day in and day out.”

Sometimes, the struggle reveals itself in an offhand comment, as west-end principal Megan Egerton recently discovered.

The neighbourhood food bank had reduced access to once every six weeks, said Egerton, and one of the families at her school had run out of groceries between visits. The principal realized just how dire the situation was when the student casually revealed what was happening at home while mentioning their baby sibling.

“Well, it’s okay; they’re drinking water from the bottle now because we ran out of milk,” the student told her.

Egerton applied to the Education Foundation and, by the next day, had received funds that could help the family buy groceries, including baby formula.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is bring a little bit of dignity to these families, so it’s done quietly,” said Egerton, who also serves on the Education Foundation board and has donated two pottery classes for up to six people through Meg’s Pottering, with a combined value of more than $840.

Similarly, Featherston Drive Public School principal and Education Foundation board vice-chair Richard Latour recalled how his school recently helped a mother who was new to Canada, raising seven children on her own and still learning English. During a school tour, she confided in a teacher that there was no food at home. Staff were able to quickly access emergency funding through the Education Foundation so she could buy groceries.

“The mom trusted the teacher enough to be able to say, ‘My kids are hungry. Can you help?’” said Latour.

Powadiuk said she’s been touched by the generosity of donors, who will be recognized across the OCDSB community.

Bayview Public School’s chief custodian, Corey Blais, has offered his car-detailing services through a small business he runs on the side. “It’s my way of trying to give back,” he said.

Silent auction donors Hudson Kubacki and Corey Blais at Bayview Public School, where Blais serves as chief custodian and sees how financial hardship can affect students. Photo by Caroline Phillips

For lovers of Indian food, there will be cooking sauces and gift cards to East India Company Restaurants. Owner Anish Mehra said the business “helps where we can.” His wife, Sejal Trivedi, works in the ESL program at Vincent Massey Public School and has donated several items.

“Small businesses get asked to support a lot of fundraisers and events, but this was a reasonable ask and one we were happy to support,” said Mehra. “We know the support reaches the community very quickly.”

Others pitched in without any direct connection to the school board. Jeff Smith of insurance brokerage BMS Group donated $500 to purchase restaurant gift cards for the auction, while Stephen Roster of ScotiaMcLeod’s Roster Vlasblom Advisory Group donated a set of his Club Bell tickets for an Ottawa Senators hockey game.

Even Powadiuk’s son, Hudson Kubacki, a Grade 7 student at Broadview Public School, got involved.

He started a small business cleaning garbage, recycling and compost bins around his Westboro neighbourhood after deciding he wanted a third hockey stick that his parents weren’t quite convinced he needed.

When he saw how much work his mom was putting into the auction over the summer, the boy offered to donate to the auction his bin-cleaning services for June, July and August 2027 to anyone living within walking distance of his home in Westboro.

Call it a generous assist.

Ottawa businesses or individuals interested in supporting the initiative can drop off or mail contributions to Bayview Public School. For questions or to arrange digital contributions, contact Nicola Powadiuk at nicola.powadiuk@ocdsb.ca

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WEALTH (WCPD), Syntax Strategic, RBC, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law and Prime Benefits Group.

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