Putnam Valley Students Collect Back Packs for Charity

The hard work of five Putnam Valley girls who spent their summer collecting school supplies for children in need is paying off this school year.  Running a 100 Back Packs in 100 Days campaign, the girls collected 131 back packs filled with notebooks, folders, pencils, markers, rulers and other school supplies for families in need.

In the winter of 2011 the girls started the campaign after learning that there were families in their community who could use the supplies. Last summer they collected 136 packs loaded with supplies and provided them to students in need for the school year.

The girls, four Putnam Valley High School juniors, Amelia Spittal, Eva Shorto, Emily Azcue and Kelly Sepa and PVMS 8^th grader Kristen Sepa have enjoyed giving back to their community.

"My friends and I have had a wonderful experience being able to create something that has helped the children in these schools, as well as seeing how enthusiastic the people of our community were to contribute to it,” said Putnam Valley High School junior Amelia Spittal.

They had collection bins set up in the Putnam Valley Elementary, Middle and High School buildings, as well as in the McCaffrey Real Estate office in Cold Spring.  In addition, the girls were given permission to distribute flyers to the parents of the campers attending the Camp Combe YMCA day camp on Peekskill Hollow Rd. in Putnam Valley.

“The combination of these things along with the final product made all the hard work we put into it completely worth it,” Spittal said. “We only wish we had started sooner."