Getting ready for the campus
Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE), a nonprofit that has various programs to help Yonkers students prepare for college, get accepted to college and complete their college educations, recently joined in three separate efforts to help ensure that college freshmen arriving on campus from Yonkers would be properly equipped for the school year.
“We know how important it is for students to feel like they belong on a college campus,” said Sam Wallis, executive director of YPIE. “By working with all of these partners, like the Junior League of Bronxville, Katie Han (of Scarsdale) and Grad Bag to supply students with the things they”™ll need on campus, we can help students feel more like they, too, belong and are ready for college success.”
For the 10th year, YPIE and the Junior League of Bronxville (JLB) provided supplies to students. They were taken to Bed Bath & Beyond in Yonkers to shop for comforters, sheets, towels, desk lamps and many other items needed in campus life. In addition to JLB providing a $200 gift card to each student, there was a discount on the overall cost of each student”™s supplies.
Katie Han, a senior at Scarsdale High School, recognized that while many students arrive on campus with everything they need for their dorm rooms, many do not, especially those from neighboring Yonkers where less disposable income may be available.
Because her parents have been longtime supporters of YPIE, she offered to host the first YPIE Dorm Drive for college-bound male students. Han created a registry at Bed, Bath & Beyond of items that she felt each student would need, then reached out to other Scarsdale students and members of the community who responded with financial support to cover merchandise costs.
YPIE also worked with the organization Grad Bag as it has since 2017 to ensure that YPIE students had dorm room essentials. Grad Bag collects items donated by graduating students from six area colleges that are prepared for redistribution by volunteers.
“The success of Grad Bag relies on students giving back to students,” said Liz Gruber, co-founder of the organization. “We have students who have received items through Grad Bag who are now coming back to donate items for incoming college students.”