Family Services Of Westchester Collecting Backpacks This Week

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The Sharing Shelf  program run by Family Services of Westchester (FSW) is following up on last year’s successful “Backpacks to School” initiative by creating at least 400 new backpacks filled with school supplies, doubling the number distributed last year, to needy Westchester County students. This month, volunteers will create at least 150 backpacks for elementary school children and 250 for middle school and high school students.

Starting today, (Monday, August 6) through Wednesday, August 8, from 3pm to 7pm, The Sharing Shelf volunteers will be at Ridge Hill mall in Yonkers, collecting school supplies and financial donations. The goal is to fill a Ridge Hill trolley with school supplies for children in need.

“We were so pleased with the support we received from county residents and retailers last year and were grateful for the gratitude we received from so many parents, school teachers and administrators for the 200 backpacks we distributed,” notes Deborah Blatt, Program Coordinator of The Sharing Shelf. 

During the year, The Sharing Shelf program, founded by Blatt in 2009, collects new and gently used children’s clothing then distributes the clothing to more than 1,500 needy children a year at no cost to the children or their families. Each month, program volunteers coordinate more than 1,000 outfits, and provide nearly 150 recipients with a week of clothing appropriate for the season. The “Backpacks to School” project is an extension of these efforts and fills a need among underprivileged students throughout Westchester County, who often start the school year without necessary supplies.

The Sharing Shelf will assemble grade-appropriate backpacks using lists created by local teachers that include pens, pencils, composition books, notebooks and binders. Students who recently graduated from local high schools have been donating scientific and graphic calculators, much-needed items that are often too expensive for struggling families to afford. “We want to double our efforts this year and provide some hard-to-obtain items like graphing and scientific calculators and flash drives for older students as well,” adds Blatt. Seniors at Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle have already donated more than a dozen calculators to the effort, though many more are still needed. 

A number of retailers and corporations are providing supplies, gift cards or financial support to the Backpacks to School drive, including Astoria Federal Savings & Loan, Target (Mt. Kisco, White Plains), Stop & Shop (North White Plains), Lakeshore Learning, Value Drug (Eastchester) and the Hawthorne law firm, Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP. 

The filled backpacks will be distributed in early September to school children throughout Westchester County, through both Family Services of Westchester and many of the more than 25  programs and agencies that rely on The Sharing Shelf.  

The Sharing Shelf program needs community support to ensure the success of this initiative. It is seeking monetary donations in increments of $25, the cost of filling one backpack.

Checks should be made out to FSW/The Sharing Shelf and mailed to Family Services of Westchester, One Gateway Plaza, Port Chester, NY 10573.

To make a credit card donation, residents can go to FSW’s website at www.fsw.org and click on donate on the home page or call Deborah Wilson at (914) 305-6876.  Please indicate that the donation is for The Sharing Shelf/Backpacks drive.

Those who would prefer to purchase supplies can do so and drop off their donations at FSW’s headquarters in Port Chester at One Gateway Plaza, 4th Floor, across from the Open Door and next to Stop & Shop or at FSW’s White Plains office at One Summit Ave, 2nd floor reception. Supplies can be dropped off from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. All donations and supplies should be received by August 20th.

Supplies can also be purchased at Amazon.com by choosing the “FSW Sharing Shelf” Wish List. Donations will be shipped directly to FSW. 

To learn about volunteer opportunities for The Sharing Shelf or inquire about the Backpack Drive, contact Deborah Blatt at thesharingshelf@fsw.org or (914) 355-9121 or e-mail Leslie Simonides at lsimonsides@aol.com.