Backpacks to School

Schools closed just weeks ago, ending a year of remote and hybrid learning. In a less than 8 weeks, students will optimistically return to their classrooms full-time for in-person learning the first time in a year and half. Many children living in poverty will need of backpacks stocked with pencils and pens to write with, calculators for geometry and science classes, notebook paper they can write on, plus markers, colored pencils and crayons for pictures, projects and crafts.

Even before the pandemic, Westchester County was a community with a mix of great wealth yet home to nearly 60,000 low-income children. In some of our communities, 8 in 10 public school students are living below the poverty line or in low-income homes. We believe that number, given the current environment, is probably much higher. Meanwhile, the average family spends $122 on school supplies, a sum out of reach for families struggling financially.

The Sharing Shelf plans to provide backpacks to at least 1,500 children and seeks to raise $45,000 for this project. Volunteers will help assemble the backpacks at The Sharing Shelf’s Port Chester warehouse during the month of August. The backpacks and supplies are critical to the academic success of poor and low-income children and will allow them to return to school prepared, confident, and ready to learn.

To find out more about how to help or to donate, please contact The Sharing Shelf Executive Director, Deborah Blatt at dblatt@sharingshelf.org or (914) 305-5950. You may also visit www.sharingshelf.org and click on Backpacks to School