Backpack Program Equips Students for School Year

Kids may not be thrilled that school is just around the corner, but, at least few hundred of them will be properly equipped because of  Family Service League.

The organization has been running a "Backpacks for Back to School" program this week, and expects to outfit more than 450 Huntington students from kindergarten through high school with a backpack stuffed with such supplies as notebooks, pencils and rulers that they need to begin school prepared, confident, and ready to learn. The agency equips more than 2,000 students throughout Suffolk County.

"Students have so many other obstacles in their way; we want schools to be a positive experience for them," said Lisa Jamison, division director for the organization, who noted that children want to start the school year with new items and that parents want to meet what their schools identify as necessary supplies. The agency has been operating the program for seven or eight years, she added.

More students than ever are in need, Jamison explained, because of the poor economy. "We are used to seeing the lowest of the low-income families but now we're seeing more middle-class people, those who have lost jobs, and are struggling with their mortgages and so on," Jamison said. She added that families seeking help come from all areas of town, including Cold Spring Harbor and Lloyd Harbor.

On Wednesday, a half dozen youngsters and adults worked at the Family Service League's Olsten Family Center to sort backpacks by theme and age, carefully picking through the stacks of crayons, notebooks, folders, pencil pouches and other items to fill backpacks, as other families and children came by to pick them up. A conference room at the Family Service League's Park Avenue office was filled with scattered boxes, supplies and backpacks, as was Jamison's office.

Huntington schools give the agency lists of what they expect students to supply in the new school year and then donated funds are used to purchase them, or the materials are directly contributed. The drive is supported by donations from such sponsors as the Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Old First Presbyterian Church, Cactus Hair Salon, and Capital One Bank, and many individual donors, with the work carried out by office staff and volunteers of all ages.

The program will run through Friday, with Jamison expecting that the supplies will be sufficient to equip the close to 500 registered families, while there are another 100 or so families on a waiting list.

For the volunteering youngsters, the work was a chance to participate in a useful activity.

Keegan Reilly, 13, who will be an eighth-grader at J. Taylor Finley Middle School in the fall, said that the work of matching backpacks with the proper age groups and adding the right supplies was fun.

"I enjoyed thinking about what the kids want and about their getting their backpacks and getting ready to go back to school," Reilly said.

For Brendan Dwyer, 13, and his brother Ethan, 11, whose mother Karen enlisted them in the project and worked alongside them, the experience had multiple benefits.

"It's been great," Ethan said. "We're helping the community and helping kids get their supplies."

Brendan spent the better part of two days opening boxes and filling backpacks. "It's been fun seeing all the cool backpacks and seeing that the kids are happy," he said. And, he said, it helps the parents "so they don't have to go shopping for backpacks."

For Christian Fiordelisi, 13, another Finley eighth-grader, this was his first time volunteering, but not his last because he enjoyed the experience. And the rewards were clear. "It's good for little kids to go back to school with the supplies they need," he said.

Luis Canales, 7, a Southdown student, was a recipient of a blue backpack filled with several items. He proudly unpacked it to show off its contents, including scissors, papers, folders, rulers and his favorite, several notebooks with different colored covers. His mother, Blanca Gomez, said she was happy to participate in the program because it saved her money.

Jamison said the agency will continue to take donations because the items are often useful later in the school year once students have used up their supplies. After the backpack program officially ends this week, the agency will move on to a toy drive for the holidays.

For more information, to volunteer or to donate, call 631-427-3700.