An engaging book. A full belly. And a warm coat.

Those are all key factors to student success. That’s why the Durham District School Board started a unique depot, dubbed Re:Source, nestled inside Oshawa’s Village Union Public School.

It’s where teachers pick up free materials that have been donated by organizations and businesses. Items are for use in the classroom, boost breakfast and snack programs in schools and help students whose parents can’t afford things such as winter clothing.

“We are being responsive to the needs of our students and our families,” says Stacey Lepine, senior manager of Early Years, Poverty Strategy and Partnership Development. “This depot allows for educators to come and get students all of the tools that they need to be successful in school.”

When students don’t have winter coats that zip up, or warm winter boots, parents typically keep them home from school, which can impact their education.

“The well-being of our students is critical for their ability to learn,” she said, adding it’s an issue the board has researched extensively. “We know that (when it comes to) the trajectory for learning, if we can start them young and they’re successful and we can give them the resources that they need, they will continue that through to adulthood.”

The goal of the depot is to take items that may be headed for landfills and redirect them to enhance student learning and well-being. For instance, shelves are lined with binders, crayons, construction paper, rolls of fabric, hats and mittens, and a large commercial fridge and freezer are filled with food. Donated clothing and toiletries must be brand-new — they’re typically misprints, overflow or last season’s items.

The depot, which opened in September, is the brainchild of the board’s Make a Difference Steering Committee, says Claire Morgan, manager of Early Years and Poverty Strategy.

“It was always our intention to find something that would be able to respond to priority neighbourhoods and children for their well-being, in terms of clothing or items they need,” she says.

They also wanted the depot to have recycling and nutritional components. The concept was dreamed up five years ago. Research was done and visits were made to other class resource and arts depots, such as ArtsJunktion run by the Toronto District School Board and The Creative Zone in Peel Region.

Organizers in Durham envisioned a depot broader in scope and set out to find the ideal location. They settled on a building that was transformed from a high school (Oshawa Central Collegiate Institute) into an elementary school (the new location for Village Union). Areas that weren’t transformed into classrooms, such as the former auto mechanic shop, were ideal for the depot, which is accessed through its own external door and has a receiving area capable of accepting large shipments.

Donations arrive Tuesdays and the depot, resembling a kind of storefront, is open Wednesdays between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., attracting on average about 45 educators.

“There are lots of really useful things here,” said Ryan Ferguson, a Grade 3 teacher at Village Union school, in a media statement when the depot first opened. “It’s a place where teachers can come together and pick stuff up instead of having to spend their own money.”

Lepine believes the depot is unique. Similar initiatives exist in non-profit charitable organizations, but she thinks Durham is the only school board in Ontario doing this.

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“It’s not often that you see publicly funded school boards engaging in poverty strategy initiatives.”

She was part of the steering committee five years ago and has watched a kernel of an idea flourish into a full-fledged bustling depot.

“It’s absolutely very gratifying to know that we’re making a difference for students,” said Lepine.

As for the future of the depot, the goal is to continue growing it and working with large retail chains.

“We do have big dreams.”