Margate City Police assisted with the Tools for Schools backpack filling event, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE Volunteers turned out in droves Sunday, Aug. 13 to ensure their younger peers have the tools they need for success in school.
Tools For Schools held its 11th back-to-school backpack filling event Sunday in the parking lot at Tomatoe's restaurant on Amherst Avenue. The Margate City Police Department joined the volunteers for the annual packing event, which will provide a backpack filled with school supplies for students who need them.
Tools For School is a non-profit that raises money throughout the year to purchase backpacks and school supplies so that kids in need can focus on learning and have the necessary tools for success.
The annual friend raiser started by collecting 50 bookbags filled with folders, notebooks, pencils, erasers and all the back-to-school essentials. On Sunday, the volunteers filled 3,000 backpacks, but the program overall will stuff more than 15,000 bookbags before distributing them to outlets across the region.
They are changing children's lives. Even if they are only spending two hours filling backpacks, local organization President Max Gaffin of Cherry Hill said about the volunteers who showed up to pack the bags.
They started at one end of the street-to-street parking lot, picked up an empty backpack and went from pile to pile to fill the backpacks with school supplies, and drop them in front of the back of a truck that will deliver them to community partners for distribution to needy students.
He said he first got involved in the program when he was in high school through the Jewish Community Federation.
I worked with the program for several years and got more people involved, and now I'm on the executive board doing marketing and communication, the George Washington University student said. A lot goes on behind the scenes to make this volunteer effort happen.
All of the volunteers who showed up on Sunday were either local students or students from other South Jersey school districts, many of whom vacation in Margate. Others just came for the opportunity to give back to those who need extra support. One man was driving by on his bicycle and stopped to see what was going on. He quickly parked his bike and got in line to help out.
According to its website, the teen-led initiative works to empower students in need by providing them with the essential tools required for their educational success.
The average school supply spending per household, per year is $661 thereby forcing lower income families to choose between paying rent for a month or buying school supplies for the year.
For more information, see www.toolsforschool.org
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