For parents, the month of August is usually focused on thinking of September. It’s when their children will be returning to school and will need notebooks, pencils, backpacks, and other school supplies to start off the academic year—and it’s also a time retail store owners love, since the back-to-school shopping season is a windfall for businesses.
A NerdWallet survey determined that families could spend as much as $541 on children’s school supplies, while the National Retail Federation found that “Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $874.68 on clothing, shoes, school supplies[,] and electronics. This is approximately $15 less than last year’s record of $890.07 but is the second-highest amount in the survey’s history.”
That kind of outlay, particularly for families with several children, adds up quickly. While many families use the summer season to take advantage of holiday sales for purchasing school supplies at a discount, many more people tend to wait and do their school shopping just before classes begin.
Waiting to purchase school needs can take a toll on your budget. That’s one reason it has become a long-standing tradition for parents of both K–12 and college students to attend local back-to-school giveaways. And community organizations are responding. Some upcoming giveaways in the local area include:
- The CHAMP Back to School Basketball Clinic will take place at Rev. T. Wendell Foster Park, 1055 Jerome Ave. in the Bronx, on August 31 from 12 noon to 4 p.m. (email Champbecomeachamp@gmail.com for more information).
- The New York Hall of Science will sponsor a Back-to-School event specifically for high school students on Saturday, Sept. 14, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at 47-01 111th Street in Queens.
- In Newark, N.J., the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (NABPP) will hold its fifth annual Hasan Shakur Unity in the community BBQ/school giveaway on August 31 at South 13th Street and 18th Avenue.
- Sen. Gustavo Rivera is hosting a back-to-school pop-up event on September 4 at 12 p.m. at Riverdale Neighborhood House located at 5521 Mosholu Avenue in The Bronx.
“The Hasan Shakur Unity in the community BBQ [and] school giveaway program is a part of our Serve the People program,” said Zulu Sharod, chair of the NABPP. “It’s an example of leveraging what little resources we have, to empower the people around us [by] giving away book bags, and I think we’re going to have something like 350 free haircuts for young people––knowing that haircuts are expensive now in our community…”
The NABPP event is named to honor Hasan Shakur, a former Panther organizer who was put to death by the state of Texas on August 31, 2006. Shakur was incarcerated after being raised in a dysfunctional family. In prison, he changed his life, becoming a prolific writer and radio personality. The annual school giveaway program honoring Shakur is part of the United Panther Movement’s “Feed the People” program. It follows the philosophy of serving the community before people find themselves in desperate need. The back-to-school giveaway is meant to provide children with good clothes, bookbags, and pencils before they realize they need these items.
“We’re going to have music by Mike D, a cat that gave time in prison, came home, and pursued his dream of being a spoken-word artist,” Sharod said. “We’re going to have T-shirts and other paraphernalia out there that we’re going to give away. We’re going to have games for kids to partake in in terms of understanding the value of their self-worth and not attaching that to a pair of jeans or a car or a job, for that matter.”
The event emphasizes the philosophy that “Your value is something that your community instills, which is love, care, concern, and having an undying commitment to wanting to help somebody,” Sharod said.