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Westchester Seeks Donations Of School Supplies For 'Operation Backpack'

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- Thanks to the efforts of Westchester County, nonprofit agencies, and local businesses, many needy children will head to class this year with backpacks full of vital school supplies.

Priya Tambe, center, with sons, Sam, left, and Neil look over backpacks and school supplies at an Operation Backpack distribution site in Port Chester last year.

Priya Tambe, center, with sons, Sam, left, and Neil look over backpacks and school supplies at an Operation Backpack distribution site in Port Chester last year.

 Photo Credit: Brian Donnelly
Carol Reif

County Executive Rob Astorino announced this week that the county’s Department of Social Services and The Sharing Shelf of Family Services of Westchester have again teamed up on "Operation Backpack" to collect  and distribute the supplies.

Grade-appropriate supplies, besides the usual pencils and pens, as suggested by the Volunteers of America, include the following:

  • Pre-K and kindergarten: pencil boxes, pocket folders, crayons, watercolor paints, large pink erasers, glue sticks, and tissues.
  • Grades 1-4: Three-ring binders, subject dividers, looseleaf paper, spiral notebooks, glue sticks, black pens, index cards, and hand sanitizers.
  • Grades 5-8: graph paper, composition notebooks, weekly planners, regular calculators, protractors and compasses, rulers, regular scissors, and USB flash drives.
  • Grades 9-12: dictionaries, thesauruses, scientific calculators, highlighters, Post-it notes, and USB flash drives.

Donations can be dropped off at these locations:

County government offices

Michaelian Office Building, 148 Martine Ave., White Plains. (914)-995-2100

Department of Social Services (DSS) Central Office, 112 East Post Road, White Plains. (914)-995-5000

Mount Vernon District Office (DSS), 100 East First St, Mount Vernon. (914)-813-6164

Peekskill District Office (DSS), 750 Washington St., Peekskill. (914)-862-5078

White Plains District Office (DSS) 85 Court St., White Plains. (914)-995-5889

Yonkers District Office (DSS) 31 Warburton Ave. Yonkers. (914)-231-2653

Nonprofits

Family Services of Westchester (main office), One Gateway Plaza, 4th floor, Port Chester. (914)-305-6825

Family Services of Westchester, White Plains, 1 Summit Ave., White Plains. (914)-948-8004

Family Services of Westchester – Pelham 507 Fifth Ave., Pelham. (914)-738-1728

Businesses

Sarah Neuman Center, 845 Palmer Ave., Mamaroneck, (914)-698-6005

Challenge Camp c/o School of the Holy Child, 2225 Westchester Ave., Rye.

Miller’s Toys, 335 Mamaroneck Ave., Mamaroneck. (914)-698-5070

PM Pediatrics, Mamaroneck, 620 East Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck. (914)-777-5437

PM Pediatrics, 2290 Central Park Ave., Yonkers. (914)-337-5437

The Voracious Reader, 1997 Palmer Ave., Larchmont. (914)-630-4581

Vision of Tomorrow, 132 Larchmont Ave., Larchmont. (914)-834-4052

“Since launching our backpack partnership, we have helped give vital school supplies to thousands of children in Westchester County,” Astorino said. “As always, our goal is to help as many children as we can again this year.”

“It’s wonderful to see the community step forward to make such a positive difference in the lives of local children,” said Deborah Blatt of The Sharing Shelf.

Susan B. Wayne, president and chief executive officer of Family Services of Westchester, agreed, saying that "the importance of providing children with the supplies they need to start the school year ready to learn cannot be overstated.”

For more information, call Deborah Blatt of The Sharing Shelf at (914)-305-5950, or visit thesharingshelf@fsw.org; or call Philippa Seltzer of the Department of Social Services at (914) -995-5331. 

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