NCJW gives to local kids in need

The South Shore section of the National Council of Jewish Women, working together with the Peninsula section, sponsored the second annual Back 2 School Store event on July 27.

More than 460 elementary school age children from Cedarhurst, Inwood, Lawrence, Woodmere, Valley Stream, Rockville Centre, Island Park, Long Beach, Elmont, Freeport, Uniondale, Hempstead and Roosevelt shopped for clothes and school supplies. Donations came from local and national businesses, as well as personal donations.

The event was held at Temple Am Echad in Lynbrook, and the kids, with the help of adult personal shoppers — more than 250 volunteers helped — got to choose a new winter coats, hats, gloves, sneakers, underwear, socks, shirts, pants, toiletries, backpacks and other school-related items.

While the children shopped, their parents visited the Family Resource Center, set up like a health fair, to obtain information on various health resources to help themselves and their families. There was also a Town of Hempstead van to do fingerprinting for the children. It might have been one of the hottest days of the year, yet the children didn’t want to take off their new coats.