UJA-Federation hosts Supplies for Success event in Bridgehampton

Nearly 200 volunteers of all ages filled 2,000 new backpacks with school supplies for low-income children on the east end of Long Island at UJA-Federation of New York’s annual Supplies for Success backpack assembly event on Wednesday, August 29, 2018, at The Ross Lower School Field House in Bridgehampton. The backpacks were distributed through community partners that picked up their backpacks, including Bridgehampton Childcare and Recreation; Bridgehampton UFSD; Butterfly Effect Project; East Suffolk BOCES; Eastern Farmworkers; Hamptons Art Camp; Haven House/Bridges Homeless Shelter; HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter; Springs School: Pederson-Krag; Riverhead School System; Southampton UFSD; and The Retreat. Supplies for Success, now in its seventeenth year, has filled over 80,000 backpacks, sending students back to school with the tools they need to have a successful year. This year’s event was chaired by Jill Bodian and Mindy Richenstein of Sagaponack.

The backpacks are filled with age-appropriate school supplies including: binders, filler paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, colored pencils, washable markers, rulers, highlighters, erasers, and more. This year, Supplies for Success coordinated eleven backpack assembly events and worked with nearly 100 community partners throughout the metropolitan New York area to get the backpacks to the kids before school started. This way they can walk in on their first day with smiles, confidence, and the tools they need to succeed.

Photo 2: UJA-Federation of New York Supplies for Success Chairs Mindy Richenstein of Sagaponack and Jill Bodian of East Hampton fill backpacks with Rabbi Joshua Franklin of JCOH of East Hampton for 2,000 East End children in need at The Ross Lower School Field House in Bridgehampton on August 29

Photo 3: Sag Harbor resident Karen Kleinman and Fran Harnick, mother of co-chair Jill Bodian of East Hampton, hand out school supplies at UJA-Federation of New York’s Supplies for Success backpack assembly event at The Ross Lower School Field House in Bridgehampton on August 29 to fill backpacks for 2,000 East End kids in need

Photo 6: Filling backpacks with essential school supplies is a family affair at the UJA-Federation of New York’s Supplies for Success Backpack Assembly held on August 29 at the Ross Lower School Field House in Bridgehampton. Foreground: vice-chair Lisa Silverman with son Austin; Left to right: Richard and Karen Kleinman, vice-chair of Sag Harbor; chair Mindy Richenstein of Sagaponack; Andrew Silverman; Larry Richenstein of Sagaponack; and Bonnie and Lonny Schwartz of Sag Harbor.