Donations Sought For United Way School Supplies Drive In Morris County

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — As students return to school in the fall, there is a greater demand for school supplies and tools, and the United Way of Northern New Jersey is looking for volunteers and donations to help meet that demand.

The United Way of Northern New Jersey is holding its annual United Way Tools for School drive, which provides students with the basic tools they need to succeed in school.

Typically, the drive aims to benefit nearly 10,000 elementary and middle school children of ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) workers and those living in poverty in northern New Jersey.

“ALICE families and households in poverty were unable to make ends meet before the pandemic and continue to struggle as the cost-of-living skyrockets,” said Kiran Handa Gaudioso, CEO of United Way of Northern New Jersey.

United Way Tools for School aims to help families who are struggling to afford the basics and are now being impacted by rising inflation.

Donors can purchase needed supplies online through a partnership between United Way and YouGiveGoods.com, and they will be delivered automatically to United Way or a partner school in the five counties served: Morris, Somerset, Suburban Essex, Sussex and Warren.

Based on the needs expressed by local educators, United Way is collecting packed backpacks and the following school supplies:

• hand sanitizer
• masks
• backpacks
• lunch boxes
• binders
• three-ring notebooks
• book covers
• filler paper
• pocket folders
• composition and spiral notebooks
• index cards
• calculators
• pencils
• pencil cases
• pencil sharpeners
• erasers
• pens
• highlighters
• crayons
• markers
• colored pencils
• construction paper
• glue
• tape
• rulers
• scissors

Donations of individual supplies and new, age-appropriate backpacks are also welcome.

In addition, school nurses have requested personal care items such as toothbrushes, deodorant, underwear and socks for kindergarten and first-grade students.

Last year, with the help of 65 volunteers, hundreds of backpacks and supplies worth $54,000 were collected and distributed to 40 local schools and ten nonprofit organizations across northern New Jersey.

“The United Way Tools for School drive offers our community the opportunity to provide some much-needed financial relief to families while giving children the tools they need to succeed,” Gaudioso said.

For more information on making donations, organizing a United Way Tools for School drive, or volunteering to sort supplies, call (973)-993-1160 ext.405.