Filling those needed backpacks

Volunteers ranging from elementary school students to grandparents will hunker down at Yeshiva of South Shore in Hewlett this Sunday to fill backpacks as part of the Supplies for Success program, which donates school items to more than 500 Orthodox Jewish children in the Five Towns and throughout Long Island.
Supplies for Success, a program of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York, is in its 14th year, and the Tov B’Yachad program to help disadvantaged Orthodox Jewish children began at Young Israel of Woodmere in 2009. Tov B’Yachad is a UJA initiative that strengthens the connection between the Orthodox community and the organization.
The two-hour event is held at the yeshiva on William Street. Besides its work in the Five Towns, Supplies for Success provides these items to another 7,500 children throughout New York through UJA-Federation agencies, yeshivas and other schools, shelters and local organizations, according to UJA figures.
“It started out small, and as more people became aware of the project, it has grown and grown,” said Tammy Kornfeld, UJA’s marketing director. “This is a year-round effort. The UJA purchases items at a huge discount and adds to what is donated.”
New or gently used supplies include binders, filler paper, spiral and marble notebooks, pocket folders, book covers, index cards, pencil cases, pens and pencils and colored pencils, crayons, markers, rulers, scissors, glue sticks, protractors and calculators for kindergartners through seniors in high school.
“It is a combination of purchased and donation from individuals and many different synagogues,” said Irwin Gershon, the UJA Supplies for Success coordinator for the Orthodox community. “We are focusing on working closer with shuls and yeshivas.”