Features

Backpacks Stuffed With Caring And Compassion

Written by Betsy Abraham, editorial@antonnews.com Wednesday, 23 January 2013 11:47

Helping students in need

When Superstorm Sandy struck the area, 11-year-old Courtney Murdaugh, a student at Westbury Middle School, felt she had to do “something.”

“I wanted to help the people affected by Sandy and help them feel better and let them know that people want to help them and make sure they’re safe,” she said.

By mid December, Courtney was one of many young volunteers from around Nassau County who came out to help the Head to Toe Foundation stuff school supplies into backpacks that were distributed to students of Leo F. Giblyn Elementary School in Freeport and Far Rockaway High School.

The nonprofit group, founded in 2011 by Brea Baker, operates under the motto “Empowering Girls’ Lives One Backpack at a Time from Head to Toe.”  

Normally, the group’s backpacks go to women overseas. But now, the need was much closer to home. With the help of dozens of  volunteers and donations  from local and national  groups,  960 backpacks were filled one recent Saturday.

 Head to Toe also partnered with the Women’s Fund of Long Island (WFLI), which provides financial support for nonprofits..

“Everyone unanimously voted that this was the first project that we wanted to support through our Hurricane Relief Fund,” said WFLI’s Executive Direcotr Stacey Scarpone.