Back to school supplies for Brooklyn students

Back to school supplies for Brooklyn students|Back to school supplies for Brooklyn students
Hailey Contage, age 9, and Matthew Thomas, age 6, with guardian Donald Thomas pose with backpacks alongside Sen. Kevin Parker as Miss Caribbean United States, Shauntay Henry look on.|
Photo by Tangerine Clarke

Last Saturday’s 12th Annual Harvest Fest – Back to School Celebration hosted by Senator Kevin Parker of the 21 Senate District in Brooklyn, helped hundreds of children on long lines in Paerdegat Park on East 40th Street, to receive backpacks with school supplies and uniforms in preparation for a new term.

The five-hour afternoon event, which kicked-off at noon with a drum salute to Sen. Parker by the Empire State Marching Band, and entertainment, also provided free food, and photo-ops, after backpacks filled with notebooks, pencils, calculators, folders and compasses, were handed out.

Senator Parker who hosts several other initiatives including a Summer Reading Program, Prom Dress Give-away, a job fair, and a Mammography Event, among others, and who recently partnered with Sen. Jeff D. Klein to donate $200,000 to the Flatbush YMCA for teen centered program and branch renovation, said he wanted to ensure parents have what they needed for their children as they head back to school.

The Leader for Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Chair of the Democratic Task Force on New Americans, Sen. Parker, said that education is important in his constituency, and anything he could do to move forward the educational process he will certainly do.

“Education is the key to opening the door to opportunity, and we want to make sure every child is equipped to get through that door of opportunity,” adding, “we have to do things together. It is only by working together that we achieve anything.”

The lawmaker also called on constituents to share ideas to improve their community.

“I did not do this along today, we had a lot of sponsors,” said the politician, who thanked Metro Plus, the Gap, the Brooklyn Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and many others.

Sen. Parker, who lives in Flatbush, serves 318,000 ethnically diverse constituents in Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Park Slope.

Other participants included, Miss Caribbean United States, Shauntay Henry, Sesame Flyers International, Inc. Zumba Fitness, Cultural Art performances by Ifetayo, and the Hidden Gems Archer.

More that 500 backpacks were handed out to Brooklyn students
Photo by Tangerine Clarke