Back-To-School Donation Drive Hosted By Queens Borough President

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — In the face of an increasingly uncertain school year, the Queens Borough President's office is making an effort to ensure that families don't have to worry about getting school supplies.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. is hosting an annual backpacks and school supplies drive from Aug. 16 through Sep. 1 at Queens Borough Hall, located at 120-55 Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens.

Richards said that he hopes the donation drive "will make life a little easier" for local families with school-age children, especially those who can't spare money on supplies amid the devastating economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

He hopes the supplies, which people can drop off at a box in the Borough Hall lobby, will help families by "providing them with the tools kids need to get the upcoming school year off to a great start.”

In addition to backpacks, needed supplies include #2 pencils, pencil cases, pencil sharpeners, crayons, pens, colored pencils, washable markers, Elmer’s glue, glue sticks, composition notebooks, 1.5” and 1” binders, ruled paper, safety scissors, rulers, pocket folders, and scientific calculators, according to the BP's office.

Accessing school supplies, however, isn't the only possible uncertainty facing families as they head into this academic year.

As the city works to impose a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for public school teachers amid the spread of the delta variant, education officials are still worried that some schools won't have enough room to follow the CDC's three-feet-apart rule for all of their students.

Last week, an advocate revealed a list of 76 severely overcrowded schools that education officials flagged as "severely overcrowded," including one in Forest Hills. Union leaders are having a "hard time" believing that the number of overcrowded schools isn't more.

Still, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he is "absolutely confident" that New York City schools will open for in-person learning in September.

To learn more about the donation drive, people can email education@queensbp.org.