School supply drive accepting applications until Aug. 22

AMENIA — The grassroots group Harlem Valley Compassion Connection is conducting a school supply drive aiding students in the Webutuck and Dover school districts.

This year’s drive is the most recent in a nearly decade-long effort led by a group of Dover and Amenia residents, and the fourth since Harlem Valley Compassion Connection officially organized as a 501(c)3 in 2021, organizer Maryalyce Merritt of Wassaic said.

School supply lists can often contain specific items with high price tags like zipping binders and name brand products, Merritt said, creating an undue financial burden for parents that the group is seeking to address. “Those binders retail are like $20 to $25,” Merritt said.

“We have 70 families so far,” Merritt said of this year’s registration. Materials are still being acquired and are currently being stuffed into backpacks in preparation for pick up.

Volunteers obtain supply lists for each of the classes in the Dover and Webutuck schools and begin purchasing materials near the end of the registration period. Families can sign up for free school supplies online at hvcompassionconnection.org until Friday, Aug. 22.

After the supplies are purchased, Merritt said, volunteers stuff backpacks with different contents for a particular student’s classes. “The backpacks run — with the supplies in them — about $50 each,” Merritt said of the equivalent value of the supplies. “I tell donors — if they say ‘I don’t know what to give’ — to sponsor a student is about $50.”

Parents and families have their choice of retrieving the backpacks in Wingdale on Aug. 27, Dover on Aug. 28 or Amenia on Aug. 29.

Harlem Valley Compassion Connection also organizes an “Adopt-a-family” toy drive that distributes curated Christmas gifts to area families. “Our volunteer pool is shallow,” Merritt said. “We realized we excel in shopping and choosing things that people want.”

The grassroots movement is mighty, supplying backpacks to hundreds of students over the past four years, but Merritt said they lack in volunteers. “We have three on the board,” Merritt said, and an additional two more regular volunteers including a “bilingual liaison,” that aids in speaking with Spanish-speaking people and families.

Harlem Valley Compassion Connection is accepting donations for the 2025-2026 schoolyear supply drive. Learn more online at hvcompassionconnection.org.