An organization founded by a Roslyn High School senior is partnering with the Bryant Library to host a backpack drive from now through Oct. 5. During the library’s hours of operation, people can donate adult and children’s backpacks, lunch boxes and drawstring bags.
Anika Tolat, the founder of Backback Rewrap, started the non-profit organization in 2022. Backpack Rewrap collects and distributes gently used backpacks to adults and children in underserved communities.
Tolat was inspired to start Backpack Rewrap by her grandparents, who founded a non-profit organization called Aarti Foundation in 2001 with a mission to help people in need in the U.S. and abroad.
“When I was in elementary school, I used to donate my backpack and lunch box to a child in India every year through [my grandparent’s] organization,” Tolat said. “The experience was so rewarding, and once I entered high school, I thought, ‘Why not do this on a larger scale?’”
The Backpack Rewrap team sorts through the donations received to sort through the backpacks to give to adults and children in need. If any backpack is deemed unsuitable to give, it is sent to a recycling company called TerraCycle.
“Since its inception, Backpack Rewrap has distributed and recycled over 500 backpacks in the tri-state area, India and Ghana,” Tolat said.
On Long Island, Backpack Rewrap distributes backpacks to organizations such as the Leadership Training Institute’s Safe Places program, Interfaith Nutrition Network and state Sen. Jack Martin’s “Fill a Backpack Program.”
The Backpack Rewrap team is made up of eight ambassadors from various schools on Long Island and New Jersey.
“They all share the same passion for helping others and saving the environment,” Tolat said. “They host drives in their respective towns and help sort backpacks to determine whether they are to be reused or recycled.”
The team tries to conduct about three to four drives per year, typically during the summer months when families are getting ready for school, Tolat said.
“It is incredible to see how small acts of kindness go such a long way. Many of us get new backpacks and lunch boxes annually without thinking much of it, but there are plenty of children who do not have the same luxury,” Tolat said. “I feel incredibly grateful watching a child’s face light up as they receive a backpack, knowing that they will be more comfortable and confident in school.”
Visit the Bryant Library at 2 Paper Mill Road in Roslyn, to make a donation. To schedule a drop-off, contact info@backpackrewrap.org or visit backpackrewrap.org to learn more.
