The Angels of Long Island will be at it again tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 20, with the group’s sixth back to school giveaway outside the Angels’ outreach center in East Patchogue.
The nonprofit organization was founded in 2015 with the sole purpose of helping fellow Long Islanders who have fallen on hard times.
The Angels plan to give away enough school supplies for up to 700 kids between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no free clothes or haircuts this year.
Everyone must stay in their cars.
Participants are asked to line up on Evergreen Avenue in East Patchogue before turning into the parking lot and collecting the free school supplies at the Angels’ center at 350-23 East Main Street. (See map below.)
Volunteers will be handing out the bags. Each child who receives a bag of free school supplies must be present.
“They’re going to get a bag loaded with tons of supplies, as well as juice boxes and snacks, all while supplies last,” said Debbie Loesch of Bellport, who co-founded Angels of Long Island with her daughter, Brittany.
Those supplies include notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, paste and more.
The goods were made possible through the Angels’ ongoing recycling fundraiser, through which local people have been dropping off bottles and cans daily for volunteers to return.
The fundraiser started just two months ago. Deposits from those bottles and cans have added up to $12,000 already. The money will also be going toward the purchase of meals and Christmas presents.
“This is stuff that would have ended up in a landfill,’ Loesch said. “Now we’re feeding kids and sending kids back to school with this money.”
Anyone who wants can drop off recyclables between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday at the Angels’ thrift shop and outreach center.
The Angels are only accepting bottles and cans that fetch a $.05 deposit.
Click here to follow the Angels of Long Island on Facebook.
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