Young school kids at P.S. 156 in Brownsville started the school year with a gift from local volunteers on Sept. 8.
United Way of New York City and FedEx handed out over a thousand backpacks to happy students at ten lucky schools in Brooklyn for the first day of classes. The two companies teamed up for a back to school drive, giving the kids in the city’s much needed areas spanking new backpacks, with even more gifts inside them.
“The bags were filled with all the school essentials including colorful rulers, composition notebooks, scissors, and pencils,” said Nicole Gallant, a vice president for United Way of New York City. “All 10 recipient schools received more than 100 backpacks.”
The event was a special surprise for the school since being part of the organization’s initiative in 2014, and joining their ReadNYC literacy campaign earlier this year.
“This is the first time that P.S. 156 has been a recipient of United Way New York City’s back to school drive,” said Gallant. “The drive is an annual event serving our partner schools.”
FedEx Cares — the initiative launched by the shipping company — delivered the backpacks citywide exclusively for the organization free of charge.
United Way of New York City was established 76 years ago, prioritizing the education and livelihood of New Yorkers living in low-income areas.
P.S. 156 is located in one of Brooklyn’s low-income neighborhoods, with a large number of students not reading at grade-level. As a partner with United Way of New York City, the school aims to get their students to reading level with ReadNYC, to increase student literacy.
