Local businesses come together to support Knowlton Academy students

Jessica Brown Real Estate/Immoblier, Virgin Hill Coffee, Camlen Furniture, and ATHLETICA Lac-Brome, have pledged support to the Christian Vachon Foundation, a group that supports
the development, perseverance and educational success of young people from vulnerable backgrounds, to fulfill the need requested by 25 Knowlton Academy families this year. The group is hoping to get other businesses in Brome Lake on board to support the cause.
Vachon started the foundation after growing up in a situation where his family was unable to support his athletic aspirations and needed help throughout the school year.
As an adult, Vachon wanted to give back to kids in a similar situation. “The foundation has grown exponentially and I think there are about 170 schools benefitting right now,” Brown said. It seems like the need is exceptionally high in the English schools right now. We were all pretty shocked to hear of the need for 25 kids at Knowlton Academy while the French school in Knowlton didn’t have any requests this year.”
The foundation offers financial aid for back-to-school supplies, clothing, and extracurricular activities. “It’s really to help families experiencing a financial crunch. It’s not meant to be an annual thing unless they need it. It’s really meant for people experiencing financial crisis that year. They evaluate over the summer whether the requests are legitimate. The request goes through the school system first and then through the foundation.”
Brown, along with her collaborators, want to get the word out to the local community about the foundation and that there are students in Brome Lake that need a helping hand. “We didn’t know about it, so we assume that a lot of others don’t know about the foundation and that they could help fund it and earmark it for kids in our neighborhood.”
It’s estimated support for 25 students at K.A. will amount to $12,500 and within 12 hours of putting a request out to the community July 25, $6,000 was raised. “We are hoping to target other local business and clients of ours that can contribute financially on a yearly basis so we can fill this need and we don’t have to put out a request. It’s important to make people aware. We know quite a bit about our community and our school, but we didn’t know how high this need was at K.A.”
Brown emphasized that they did inform themselves about other schools nearby. “I asked what other schools around me were specifically affected because I didn’t want to just focus on Knowlton, but the reality is, Sutton didn’t have any requests this year. There was a big demand in Cowansville at the Anglophone elementary school and a couple at Massey-Vanier. It just depends on where you’re living.”
If people want to support students in their communities, they can write a cheque directly to the foundation, noting the contribution is for children specifically in a given area.”
Those who want to support students at K.A., can contribute at the link below and all will go directly to the school. https://www.fondationchristianvachon.com/evenements/?fbclid=IwAR1JjiL3XM0t2dIjM4khmc1tWiz2o899l_gy7ZFzg38c0oBCUDBoT-00unY#/events/f0bf3a66-f819-489a-a7d6-870b8ed065e5/donate
“Our goal is to make sure people in our neighborhood know that the need is here and it’s here right now.”