Back to School Supply Drive

Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we were able to collect 3,600 supplies and counting, including backpacks, scientific calculators, binders, notebooks, pens, pencils, and more. These items will go directly to 904 children and adolescents in our programs, ensuring that they have the tools to succeed!

While we are no longer accepting supplies for the 2022-23 school year, we still need your support to ensure the students in our programs succeed in the classroom and beyond! Your investment supports early education, high-quality tutoring programs, holistic college support services, and more.

For questions, contact Laura Wright at laura.wright@nyfoundling.org or 212-886-4087.

Youth in foster care face significant challenges that reduce their academic opportunities and make it more challenging to achieve success. Insecure housing, switching schools, weak community supports, and compounding challenges widen the opportunity and achievement gaps for these young people, creating real differences in outcomes:

• 25% of NYC foster youth who started high school in 2015 graduated in 4-years (an improvement from 2008 when 15% of youth graduated, but still below the 77% rate for the general population)
• 43% of NYC foster youth above the age of 16 miss more than half the school year
• More than 1 in 5 NYC foster youth repeat a grade (compared with 1 in 13 for general population)
• Roughly 40% of NYC foster students have a disability
• Less than 3% of foster youth graduate from a 4-year college

The thousands of foster youth in NYC schools must overcome high hurdles to thrive, but these challenges are far from insurmountable.

Our school supply drive helps strengthen our community by helping kids have a fresh start with the tools they need to succeed.