The Magic Pencil
The Magic Pencil
The Magic Pencil program provides necessary school supplies, access to field trips and winter clothing to elementary school children throughout North Delta.
As of September 2024, the Rotary Club of North Delta has provided $25,000 to schools throughout North Delta for school supplies. This helps fill a major gap in necessary school supplies that was either personally filled by school employees or missing altogether. The demand included both elementary and secondary schools and we are looking for additional sponsors to meet the greater need. In addition to school supplies, there is an urgent need to provide appropriate winter clothing so that all children are able to attend school on cold days. We are currently working on a plan to facilitate the acquisition and delivery of these clothes..
The program's name comes from various fables of The Magic Pencil (original author unknown):
"A child helps a stranger in apparent need. By doing so without asking for anything in return, the stranger rewards the child with a magic pencil allowing the child to bring their drawings to life. The child is then able to use their imagination to provide for those in need. The pencil serves as a tool to externalize and realize the boundless possibilities within a child's mind. "
These fables serve as a moral compass, teaching children to harness their imagination constructively.
The Rotary Club of North Delta has created a charitable Foundation to provide tax receipts for donors.
You can also donate with your empty bottles. Bring your clear plastic bag of bottles to any Recycle It Depot and use the express drop kiosk. Enter the number 778-766-0063, print and attach the label to the bag.
We are looking for more community partners - companies and individuals.
To find out how we might be able to help you bring the hope of The Magic Pencil to a child, please contact us:
North Delta Rotary Contact: ndrotaryclub@gmail.com
Thanks to a Community Prosperity Grant arranged through the Delta Community Foundation, the North Delta Rotary Club started a new community project in partnership with the Delta School District. The Magic Pencil project, which supplies North Delta elementary and secondary students with school supplies, started during the current school year in response to the growing number of Delta families who struggle to pay for their children’s back-to school expenses.
Working in partnership with Delta School District staff, volunteers from the North Delta Rotary Club designed its new Magic Pencil program. District staff estimated that the annual cost of school supplies average $100 per elementary and $150 per secondary school student. Each school and class have unique needs for supplies. Small funds in each school would enable school staff to purchase supplies and to cover school fees such as field trips for children at need.
Funding for a pilot project was made available from a Community Prosperity Fund grant administered by the Delta Community Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, and the Province of British Columbia. This fund supports projects involving local charities and non-profits which reduce poverty and promote social inclusion.
Working in partnership with Delta School District staff, volunteers from the North Delta Rotary Club designed its new Magic Pencil program. District staff estimated that the annual cost of school supplies average $100 per elementary and $150 per secondary school student. Each school and class have unique needs for supplies. Small funds in each school would enable school staff to purchase supplies and to cover school fees such as field trips for children at need.
Funding for a pilot project was made available from a Community Prosperity Fund grant administered by the Delta Community Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, and the Province of British Columbia. This fund supports projects involving local charities and non-profits which reduce poverty and promote social inclusion.
“Ensuring our students have the appropriate school supplies is very important in order for them to achieve success. The Rotary Club of North Delta has been instrumental this year in helping to fund school supplies for a number of the students in our district.” stated Kirsten Hermanson, District Manager for the Delta School District.
Volunteers from the Rotary Club of North Delta are fundraising and applying for grants to continue and expand the scope of Magic Pencil. To date, the Club has secured $20,000 in grants to ensure that the Magic Pencil is available during the upcoming 2025-26 school
year. Our goal is to ensure that no student in the 14 public elementary and the 5 secondary schools in North Delta, struggles in school due to the lack of school supplies or is unable to attend a school field trip.
year. Our goal is to ensure that no student in the 14 public elementary and the 5 secondary schools in North Delta, struggles in school due to the lack of school supplies or is unable to attend a school field trip.