After 10 years, a local charity named in memory of a former Kindergarten teacher is continuing to support local students and families across Chatham-Kent and Sarnia Lambton.
Noelle’s Gift to Children made its yearly donation to the St. Clair Catholic District School Board and Lambton Kent District School Board for 2023 on Friday.
“We want our students to focus on their learning and their well-being moving forward and when they have barriers in front of them that we can remove simply through the generosity of Noelle’s Gift, we do that and we do that immediately,” said John Howitt, the director of education for the Lambton Kent board.
The donation of $188,500 will be divided among all of the schools in each board to purchase eyeglasses, clothing, food, medicine and medical equipment. Teachers can access up to $200 for children in need and higher amounts can be approved and quickly processed by the school’s principal to help families as soon as possible.
“When a family is in need of glasses, medication, money for utilities, it’s a no questions asked [system],” said Scott Johnson, the director of education for the St. Clair Catholic board. “There are no hoops and hurdles families have to go through. It’s instant. It’s often within the same day that it’s approved.”
Since its inception in 2013, Noelle’s Gift to Children has raised roughly $3.5 million for students in Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent.
The charity was established in memory of Noelle Paquette, a former Kindergarten teacher with the Catholic board who was tragically killed in January 2013.
“She would be very honoured that everyone is continuing her legacy. This is doing what she was doing when she was here, just so much bigger than she ever imagined,” said Nicole Paquette, Noelle’s sister and co-founder of Noelle’s Gift.