Backpacks filled with school supplies distributed to 10 LI groups that work with families in need
Emily Lorca, left, and Charlene Birden, of Mercy Haven Inc. in Islip Terrace, load their car with backpacks filled with school supplies assembled by the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless on Friday in Amityville. Credit: Rick Kopstein
The Long Island Coalition for the Homeless is helping families in need get the necessary school supplies to help ensure a successful start to the academic year.
On Friday, the Amityville-based nonprofit distributed 400 backpacks filled with classroom essentials to 10 organizations, which will give them out to children in need.
"We did a collection drive throughout the summer, so we had different libraries, government buildings as well as corporations donate school supplies and backpacks to us, and then we assembled them on site and now we’re distributing them," said community engagement specialist Bailey Riekkinen.
The nonprofit has noticed an increase in demand for school supplies in the last couple of years, Riekkinen said.
"When kids don’t have the proper school supplies, it can affect how they’re doing in school, it can affect how they view themselves," she said. "So when we get those kids those school supplies, they have more confidence, they have the tools they need for the school year, and they’ll perform better."
One of the nonprofits picking up the backpacks was Options for Community Living, an organization that provides stable housing and support services for people living with physical and mental illnesses.
"Twenty years ago, [back-to-school supplies] were expensive, so now it’s even more and so any way that we could help kiddos that we serve, lessen what they need to buy for school, it’s a good deal," said Melissa Pulsinelli, the group's director of philanthropy and development.
At the end of the month the coalition will host their "Backpack Pirates" event, in which kids in homeless shelters are directly given backpacks, as well as participate in sports, arts and crafts and other activities.
A January 2025 Point In Time Report compiled by the coalition identified over 4,500 sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in Suffolk and Nassau counties.
This includes more than 1,450 people under age 18.
"We are really focused on finding temporary and permanent housing for people on Long Island, and it’s really an issue on Long Island," said Rosemary Ortlieb, the coalition's director of development.
"People don’t always think about homeless people who are living in shelters, but there are in Suffolk County, there are a number of shelters in Nassau County, people who are living in hotels," she said.
