At the start of each school year, many civic and non-profit organizations take to packing backpacks for school children in need, giving them supplies, folders, notebooks, and, of course, a new backpack.
Last Friday was no exception to the charitable event, as the Port Jefferson Elks Lodge, now located in Centereach, held their annual drive and were joined by the Selden Civic Association, the Middle Island Civic Association, and Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa (C-Selden) to pack over two hundred backpacks to be distributed between the Longwood, Middle Country, and Comsewogue school districts.
“We’ve been here [in Centereach] for six years, and we’ve been doing this drive for six years,” Tony Florio, Lodge Treasurer and District Sponsor for the nine lodges in the East District, told The Messenger. “When we were in Port Jefferson, we had been doing drives like this for forty years.”
Florio says the Lodge originally had a dictionary program, where they would get attendance numbers from school districts and donate a dictionary to each kid. But with the modern age, and laptops being too expensive, they switched to backpacks.
“We apply for grants from Chicago [headquarters] and for this, we received the Spotlight Grant,” said Florio. The Spotlight Grant was created in 2019 to give lodges a choice of ready-made projects to implement in their communities. The Port Jefferson Elks Lodge received $2,000 for the backpack drive.
Florio also said that community service such as this doesn’t scratch the surface of the community’s needs, referencing a coat drive the Lodge held in their first year in Centereach. Florio said he felt like the Lodge was “going to wipe out every problem they had,” only to end up feeling that the Lodge “didn’t do enough.”
“These are the kinds of things that people don’t know are going on,” said Gail Lynch-Bailey, President of the Middle Island Civic Association of the persistent needs of the community. “We are so happy to be here at this event and to support people behind the scenes doing good for children heading back to school.”
Florio said that last year, they purchased the supplies and packed the bags individually. This year, to save time and distribute more bags, they ordered from a company called Bag in Bulk, which delivers pre-packaged, sealed school supplies to be put directly into the backpacks.
“This has been growing every year. It started out with just double-digits, and now we’re in triple-digits,” Linda Miller, President of the Selden Civic Association, told The Messenger.
“I thank the Elks Lodge of Centereach for hosting and all the volunteers who came together for this special event that will positively impact many families who now do not have to worry about their children’s school supply needs,” Legislator Caracapppa told The Messenger. “This endeavor eases the burdens of parents who do not have the resources to obtain these supplies and can send their loved ones to school with everything they need for the classroom. I truly thank the Selden and Middle Island civics for their generosity and commitment to their communities.”
The Lodge, with the help of numerous volunteers, packed over two hundred bags for the three school districts, with about twenty leftover backpacks that will be distributed as well.
