They landed in the parking lot of Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School on Saturday morning and poured eagerly out of two city buses, with enough heart and school supplies to fill generosity's backpack, stuffed to bursting.

Dozens of kids from ages 8 to 14, from the Islamic Cultural Centre of Toronto, couldn't wait to get to it. Their job? Making sure that 500 Syrian refugee children in Hamilton will have, when they arrive, the things they need to go to school here.

Backpacks, pencils and pens, calculators, post-it notes, you name it.

Often walking lopsided or top-heavy with their unwieldy loads, the kids from the cultural centre would stop and help each other balance what they were carrying.

"Help!" — shouted one girl, above her own laughter, as her burden nearly toppled out of her arms. Another girl quickly got under half of it before it went over.

You could see the joy in their faces but there was also an almost military determination and focus on the purpose of their task.

The wonderful supply drill they ran was a joint effort. The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Foundation furnished about 500 backpacks, and the "stuffing" was courtesy of the cultural centre, whose Muslim school is run by principal Maggie Amin.

The two organizations have co-operated before.

"Maggie's group donated food packs one time to inner city schools, including those in Hamilton," said Julie Densham, of the HWDSB Foundation.

"When we started talking about number of refugees in Hamilton, the board wanted to accumulate school readiness and basic needs."

It turned out that Maggie's group had already begun fundraising for school supplies.

By the time Maggie's school had finished fundraising they'd collected more than $7,000.

They hit the dollar stores with it and loaded up on supplies over the holidays.

Then, on Saturday, once they got all their supplies into the Sir John A cafeteria, which was the rendezvous point, the real work started. Sorting the supplies by category – elementary, middle school and high school – and stuffing them into the appropriate backpacks.

Behind it all, Maggie with her bullhorn kept the whole process humming.

Before they got to it, she sat them all down and said: "We can't live the lavish life without helping others. Who told us to help the poor? Allah did."

They formed into an assembly line, getting all done well under the two hours allotted.

"The kids came up with the idea for this, not the parents," Maggie told me.

It's a way for them to learn giving beyond their own community.

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"They raised money doing chores, the dishwasher, shovelling, selling toys, taking out garbage. It makes them so happy."

Indeed it did. The children were eager to share their excitement.

"This is a fun way to get to do good deeds," said Mariam El Hewaily, nine. "I'm happy we're helping them."

"This is for refugees' safety and assuring they have things they need," said Noor El Ghobary, 10, who helped her parents with chores like dishwashing to raise money.

And Judy Rawas, 10, sold chocolates door to door and helped with laundry at home. "I'm glad," she said, "that now they (the refugee families) have all they need."

"I went to Dollarama and helped pick out items," said Mehyar Mardini, 10. "We do it because it is pleasing to our God."

Several of the young people are from Syrian families. Some were even born in Syria.

Like nine-year-old Luna Sheikh Alard who came in 2012.

She likes Canada, but misses Syria terribly.

"It used to be the best country," said Mehyar Medini, whose background is Syrian.

"I just hope my grandparents can come (to Canada)," said Luna.

The backpacks are being kept at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School. When they're needed, they'll be there, thanks to the care of others.