Uniondale students receive free school supplies

The youth organization My Brother’s Keeper spent last Saturday morning handing out backpacks filled with school supplies to children throughout Uniondale.

“We just want to get the kids started back to school, (to) walk back into the buildings with a book bag and supplies, and we feel like that’s an important thing to get the school year started,” Keith Coles, lead adviser for MBK’s Uniondale chapter, said.

The district wanted to connect more closely with the community, so instead of having families come to the schools for school supplies and other needs, Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil decided to give back by bringing the schools to district families. My Brother’s Keeper prioritizes equal access to opportunities and seeking solutions to community issues, according to its website, so its involvement in the school-supply drive naturally aligned with the group’s values.

A school bus full of MBK volunteers and a truck carrying hundreds of filled backpacks made four stops around Uniondale, with a Fire Department truck loudly signaling their arrival. Families registered in advance for the supply drive, with each student receiving one backpack. Kids lined up with their parents and guardians for blocks at each stop.

And at each stop, the Marching Knights — the high school marching band and a kickline — put on a show as massive boxes and bags, overflowing with backpacks, were unloaded from the truck. MBK volunteers carried as many as they could at a time as they made their way down the line, handing the packs to students of all ages.

There were backpacks of all colors and fun prints for the kids to choose from. Luna Toussaint, 5, picked out a white one with dinosaurs on it. She said she was excited to start kindergarten, to play in the classroom with new friends and to do her homework. Her grandmother Vierge Louis said she was grateful for the supplies, to ease expenses for her family and others in the community.

“It’s helping parents because it’s so hard — things are so expensive,” Louis said. “It’s good for parents to make it easy for us and our kids.”

Both middle and high school members of Uniondale’s MBK chapter volunteered to help organize the event. They spent three days filling the backpacks with all manner of school supplies, according to Aaron Osorio, an MBK Fellow, or student leader, said.

“Preparation was three days and months of planning,” Osorio said. “I’m very happy and proud of ourselves, because we packed all these backpacks up in three days.”

This is the second year the organization has hosted the event. Last year it attracted nearly 500 families, and the group ran out of backpacks, Coles said. This year there was an even bigger turnout, with an estimated 180 packs to hand out per stop. But MBK was ready, with more than enough to go around.

The supplies were donated by a variety of organizations, including nonprofits like Supplies for Success, community fraternities and sororities like Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha, as well as Northwell Health, Las Vegas Sands, the Kiwanis Club of Uniondale United, and County Legislator Siela Bynoe and Judge Tricia Ferrell.

Osorio said he was happy to be involved. He thinks of his own mother spending her time and money to get him school supplies, he said, and it inspires him to want to help other students in the district who may not have the same option.

“When I see this, it just means a lot of equality, because I remember a lot of kids (who) didn’t have supplies,” Osorio said. “I’m happy that some now get to have a backpack.”