Thursday, October 1, 2026
The South Shore and Peninsula sections of the National Council of Jewish Women joined forces with Freeport Public Schools to host another visit to the Back 2 School Store, where hundreds of students and parents from local school districts received quality resources and school supplies ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
The event was held at Freeport High School on Aug. 7 and 9 and made available only to students and their families who pre-registered.
Hope Coleman, one of the leaders of the Lawrence-based Peninsula Section of NCJW, who has helped coordinate the event for 13 years with its South Shore counterpart, based in Rockville Centre, explained that the Back 2 School Store is intended to help families by supplying them with meaningful resources and alleviate some of the financial burden that each school year can bring.
“The goal is to help children and families, assist them financially, help the children make choices, increase their self-esteem and give them free, new merchandise for the start of the school year,” Coleman said. “So, they’re on the same level field with all the children in their district.”
Each child was given the opportunity to receive a haul of items from the Back 2 School Store. According to Coleman, the list of available items included new sneakers, socks, pants, underwear, long-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts, winter jackets, books, stuffed animals, and much more.
Families that pre-registered got to check-in with volunteers in the Freeport High School lobby, before the students were assisted by a personal shopper to pick out items that were laid out in the halls and the school cafeteria. Meanwhile, parents were escorted into the Freeport High School Performing Arts Center, where several experts and organizations provided them with healthcare resources, insurance information, voter registration and other information.
Due to concerns over the current “political climate,” in reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies, the NCJW took care not to widely publicize the event ahead of time. As a result, volunteers and participants did not report any adverse incidents during the event.
More than 500 students were registered for the event, with 200 volunteers and shoppers participating. Many of the volunteers were Freeport High School students and the school district faculty.
Patricia Langan, a teacher at John W. Dodd Middle School and president of Freeport Teachers Association, was one of the proud supporters of the initiative.
“[The NCJW] provides a great service to our students and to anybody who’s having a little bit of a struggle before school starts,” Langan said. “So, they’ve supported us. They’ve given us even spaces where we can store some leftovers so that when we have students during the year who have a struggle with a house fire or anything, we can provide all of this for them.”
Langan added that she appreciated the support from Schools Superintendent Fia Davis and to the new school board members who visited the store and supported the initiative. Board Vice President Gabriela Castillo and Trustee Edward Gordon, who were both elected this year, praised the event during an Aug. 12 board meeting.
“The spirit of the community was very much alive in that event,” Castillo said. “It was wonderful to see so many of our families being able to be there and get some of their necessities before the start of the school year.”
The money and resources for the Back 2 School Store were provided by small donations and grants the NCJW were able to obtain. Freeport High School and the Caroline G. Atkinson Elementary School both hosted the event in the past.
Coleman’s son-in-law, Josh Levitt, is a member of the Freeport High School faculty, working as the school’s social studies chairperson and student government advisor.
Levitt said that the resources and support being invested in the school store has continued to grow over the years.
“They doubled the amount of clothing that students will get,” he said. “They’ve additionally added more resources for the parents as well. It just continues to grow and grow each year with the number of students who are volunteering as well as taking advantage of the actual store.”
Susan Fox, another event organizer who has been assisting in the Back 2 School Store in various capacities for nearly a decade, said that this event truly uplifts families and communities.
“You know you’re doing something that’s good, that’s helpful, when you make a child smile and feel good,” Fox said. “I was a teacher, and I know how many kids I had who would come in without supplies. I would go and buy supplies for a lot of them, so doing this is just a great thing.”
