If you didn't know any better, you might have thought there was a rock star in town. By 10 a.m., a long line had formed in front of the community centre in Igloolik, Nunavut, stretching way down the street. Excitement filled the cold September air as students and their families waited for their turn to go inside.

The big attraction was not a celebrity, but a massive donation of essential items. Tables piled high with jackets, sweaters and pants, backpacks and boots, mittens and toques. Brand-new with tags still on—and all for free.

This happy day, a year in the making, would not have been possible without a passionate elementary school teacher—and the support of The Salvation Army.

Colleen’s Search

Originally from Winnipeg, Colleen Chau graduated from teacher’s college in 2020, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With all the schools in her area pivoting to remote learning, Colleen began looking for work in places still offering in-person classes. That led her to Igloolik.

She began teaching at the Ataguttaaluk Elementary School in September 2020 and soon noticed that some of her Grade 4 students did not have adequate clothing.

“Some didn’t have a change of clothes or their clothes were worn out,” Colleen recalls. “When winter came, I noticed some kids didn’t have a jacket or boots, and they were coming to school in hoodies and running shoes.”

At first, Colleen thought she would ask some of her friends and family in the south to ship clothing to Igloolik. “But it wasn’t really viable with the cost of postage—to get things up here would have cost at least $200 or $300 for a smaller box,” she explains. “So, I started digging around in my spare time, searching for non-profits and seeing what my options were in terms of getting clothes.”

“It was an amazing feeling, this moment where it felt like everything was possible." Colleen Chau

She reached out to more than a dozen organizations, some of which were willing to provide the clothing—if Colleen could pay for the shipping. “That’s the catch-22 of living up North,” she says.

Undeterred by her lack of success, Colleen kept searching and trying. And then she contacted The Salvation Army.

Big Dreams

Major Margaret McLeod, who leads the Army’s Alberta and Northern Territories Division, remembers getting that email from Colleen.

“My first thought was, That’s a long ways away,” Major Margaret recalls. “But in the same breath, I thought, If we could do something to support her, wouldn’t that be great?”

Before becoming a Salvation Army pastor, Major Margaret had been a teacher herself. Seeing Colleen’s passion for helping her students struck a chord.

“I wrote back and said, ‘Let me look into it and see what I can do.’ ”

“When I got that email from Margaret, I was ecstatic,” Colleen smiles.

From there, Major Margaret and Colleen began assembling their “dream team” as other Army personnel and supporters came on board.

The first piece of the puzzle was the clothing itself, which fell into place quickly thanks to Joe Fresh and the Weston family, who are long-time supporters of the Army.

 In her original pitch, Colleen only asked for clothing for her class, but that soon changed with Joe Fresh on board. “They said, ‘We have the resources, Colleen. Dream bigger.’ ”

Joe Fresh asked Colleen about the number of students attending Igloolik’s three schools, and clothing for 25 students became jackets, boots and backpacks for 750.

Finding a way to get all those things to Igloolik was a tall order—one that was enthusiastically embraced by Baffinland Iron Mines, whose chair, Bruce Walter, is a member of the Army’s National Advisory Board.

“It came together really well,” says Major Margaret. “That’s teamwork—it took a lot of people to be able to pull off what we did.”

Seeing the pieces fall into place was an incredible experience for Colleen.

“It was an amazing feeling,” she recalls, “this moment where it felt like everything was possible. We could dream big and people were going to try to make it happen.

“When you’re dealing with the realities of living up North, you can’t help but wonder, Is this place forgotten by the rest of Canada?” she continues. “And so, to realize that people do care, even if they’ve never seen the kids’ faces or been in the community themselves, people care about what’s going on up here and the quality of life the people have—that was awesome.”

Something Good

It took six hours and many volunteers to pull off that distribution day in Igloolik last September. But for Colleen, the results were more than worth the months of effort.

“The response was really, really joyful,” she says. “Now, when I’m walking through the schools or passing by the playground, I see kids wearing a brand-new jacket and boots. You feel like you’ve done something good.”

The project was a full-circle moment for Colleen, who was once on the receiving end of assistance from the Army. “My mom took English classes at The Salvation Army after she came to Canada, and I got a new backpack through a backpack drive,” Colleen notes.

Looking back, she sees that email to The Salvation Army as a tiny “act of faith”—a small action that started something amazing.

“This project became so much more than what I expected or asked for,” she says. “It puts a little bit of hope in your soul.”

Lead photo: Pat Qulaut

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