EVEN COUNTY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HELP PACK SCHOOL BAGS

County Executive George Latimer and County Social Services Commissioner Leonard Townes joined The Sharing Shelf in Port Chester, on Wednesday, Aug. 2, to fill 190 backpacks with school supplies. The nonprofit”™s “Backpacks to School” campaign allows under-resourced students countywide to return to the classroom feeling confident with tools necessary to excel. 

 Volunteers filled packs with composition books, markers, colored pencils, crayons, folders, pencil cases and other school supplies. The Sharing Shelf will be filling 1,500 backpacks over the course of the campaign. 

 Founded in 2009, The Sharing Shelf is Westchester”™s clothing bank for children founded to combat clothing insecurity among low-income children and families in the community and meet basic material needs such as socks, underwear, diapers, personal products and toiletries. The Sharing Shelf collects new and gently used clothing for infants, children and teens that are distributed to local, low-income children at no cost through nonprofits, schools and community groups in Westchester County. The children receive a Wardrobe Pack, a week’s worth of seasonally appropriate clothing matched to their sizes. The Sharing Shelf also hosts a series of free shopping days for low-income teens called Teen Boutique. The program was founded by a volunteer and relies on volunteers to accomplish its work.