First campus Backpack Give Back drive raises nearly 50 bags in support of food security for local kids

SUNY New Paltz students, faculty and staff secured donations of 46 bags during our first Backpack Give Back initiative, a partnership with the New Paltz Rotary Club aimed at distributing food to families in need in the New Paltz Central School District.

The food is provided to children in backpacks to maintain privacy, and while the bags are meant to be returned, there’s always a need to replenish them throughout the year.

A broad collective of campus offices and student organizations collaborated this year to bring the project to campus for the first time. They include All4Jesus, Alpha Phi Omega, Catholic Campus Ministry, Delta Alpha Pi, Disability Resource Center, Episcopal Campus Ministry, and the Student Christian Center.

We hope to coordinate again with the New Paltz Rotary Club to offer the program in spring 2023. In the meantime, campus community members can drop off backpack donations any time of year to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs in Haggerty Administration Building 701.