E. Ramapo kids to receive $1K worth of school supplies

Employees from one of the largest orthopedic practices in the lower Hudson Valley have banded together to purchase back-to-school supplies for children heading back to class in the East Ramapo school district this fall.

Seventy-five backpacks stuffed with scissors, pens, pencils, pencil cases, rulers and notebooks will be given to East Ramapo Schools Superintendent Deborah Wortham, who will then distribute the bags to local schoolchildren, according to Maida Garabed, director of human resources at Northeast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

This is the first year the company, which has 250 employees at 11 locations spread across Rockland and Westchester counties, ran a drive to help less-than-fortunate families. Altogether, employees shelled out around $1,000, according to Carol Romer, chief executive administrator.

EAST RAMAPO: Spring Valley group plans to donate 1,000 backpacks

Garabed, who described herself as "fairly new" to the company, said she has spearheaded similar collections at previous jobs and always had a great response.

"It's an opportunity to give back to the community,"  Garabed said. "We're very excited about how this went."

A ceremony will be held Tuesday at the company's Nanuet facility to present Wortham with the donated supplies, Garabed said.

Advocating For Change, a Spring Valley-based group, recently held its annual back-to-school collection drive to benefit children in the East Ramapo school system. More than 1,000 book bags will be distributed on Saturday at Memorial Park in Spring Valley.

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