The Family and Child Support Service of the KJU Children’s Home Sarajevo visited families included in its support programme and distributed school backpacks and supplies that Foundation Second, thanks to its donors, provided for 18 children from nine families.

The campaign was launched ahead of the new school year to ease one of the significant financial burdens faced by families dealing with various life challenges and to ensure that their children could start school with the supplies they need.

These are families supported and monitored by the Family and Child Support Service with the aim of strengthening their capacities and preventing family separation, including the removal of children from their families and their placement in residential care.

Backpacks delivered directly to families

After the school packages were prepared and delivered to the Children’s Home Sarajevo, the Service’s professional team visited all nine families and distributed the backpacks to the children for whom they were intended.

Each child received a new backpack containing school and art supplies tailored to their age and educational needs.

Amina Pohara, Head of the Family and Child Support Service, highlighted the importance of this type of assistance for the families supported by the Service.

“Our families face numerous challenges every day, and the beginning of the school year places an additional burden on parents with limited financial resources. Backpacks and school supplies may seem like a simple form of assistance, but they are very meaningful to the families we support. In addition to easing the financial burden on parents, they send an important message to children that they are not alone and that there are people who care about them. We are grateful to Foundation Second and its donors for recognising the needs of our families and for continuously providing practical support,” said Pohara.

Support continues for newly enrolled families

In the meantime, new families have joined the Family and Child Support Service’s programme, which is why Foundation Second is continuing the campaign.

Thanks to the support of the Dutch organisation Stichting Amanet, additional funds have been secured specifically for families that have recently joined the Service’s support programme.

Based on the assessed needs of each family and the ages of the children, they too will receive backpacks containing the school supplies they need.

Foundation Second Director Belma Mujezinović emphasised that continuity of support is one of the most important elements of the Foundation’s cooperation with the Service.

“Our goal is not to end the campaign the moment we distribute 18 backpacks. New families are continuously joining the Service’s programme and their needs change, which is why we want to respond wherever help is most needed at that particular moment. We are especially pleased that, thanks to the support of Stichting Amanet, we can also reach families that have only recently joined the programme. We want every child we are able to reach to have what they need for school, while at the same time easing at least part of the financial burden on their parents,” said Mujezinović.

Support tailored to the real needs of families

The first 18 school packages were provided thanks to Foundation Second’s donors, with support from Amos Graf, whose representatives donated two complete packages.

The continuation of the campaign, supported by Stichting Amanet, will enable assistance to reach new families supported by the Service, according to their specific needs.

The cooperation between Foundation Second and the Family and Child Support Service is based on precisely this approach – ensuring that assistance is not a one-off intervention or the same for everyone, but is directed where it is needed and tailored to the actual circumstances of each family.

Because supporting a family at risk is not simply about responding to a single need. It is about investing in the family’s stability, empowering parents and creating better conditions for children to grow up within their own families whenever this is in their best interests.