It Started With A Backpack

Our History

It was the year 2000.

In 1989, the Canadian federal government declared child poverty a national emergency and vowed to end it by the year 2000. With the problem still persisting, in 2000 Start2Finish (then KidsFest) was born. Out of a desire to join the campaign to eradicate the effects of child poverty through educational support, founder Brian Warren envisioned that all children in Canada would have the tools to succeed regardless of socioeconomic status. The organization began its campaign by distributing backpacks with quality school supplies and books to children in at-risk schools. In addition, Start2Finish hosted literacy festivals across the GTA called "KidsFests." However, after doing more research, the team believed that weekly interventions were needed to address the educational inequalities that resulted from child poverty.

In January 2004, the pilot Running & Reading Club began at Chester Le Junior Public School in Scarborough. The program brought together fitness, literacy, and mentorship to support elementary student success. Born out of research, love and inspiration, the program was a resounding success.

Today, unfortunately 1 in 8 Canadian children in Canada still live in poverty. With over 1.3 million children at-risk, Start2Finish’s work is just as needed today as it was over 20 years ago.

Empowering kids since 2000.

Today, we are a passionate group of 12 staff, 700 volunteers in 70 communities, currently running 120 sessions per week.

Ever evolving, same DNA.

Since the emergence of the first Running & Reading Club, Start2Finish has reached 70 communities across the country. We extended our work by supporting middle years students (grades 6-8) and offering classroom enrichment resources.

With our innovative approach and commitment to adapting to the communities in which we work, S2F continues to make child well-being the goal of our anti-child poverty campaign.

  • The communities we serve trust us to provide programs and materials that are both easily accessible and flexible for their needs.

  • Evaluating our programs and materials on a yearly basis, we execute responsive solutions & advocate for our students across public and private sectors.

  • Our work shifts with student needs. We regularly speak to students, parents, and faculty to ensure that our contributions remain relevant.