A monthlong donation drive is underway to assist a significant number of Long Islanders who will struggle to pay for back-to-school supplies this fall.

The Fill a Backpack program will help make back-to-school shopping more affordable to these families, organizers say.

New York State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) organized the donation drive in his district, which covers a large portion of northern Nassau County spanning from Great Neck to Syosset. Sixteen library drop-off locations are collecting pencils, notebooks, backpacks and more between June 23 and July 28 in the district.

The problem is nationwide, with about 31% of parents saying they were unable to afford back-to-school shopping for their children in 2024, a national report from Intuit Credit Karma found. About 34% of parents planned to take on debt for back-to-school supply shopping, according to the same report.

In 2024, K-12 students' families planned to spend an average of $874.68 on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. This is the second-highest number ever recorded in the survey's history, after an average of $890.07 in 2023.

Considering that school supplies are becoming increasingly expensive, it is more important than ever to donate, said Denise Paredes, Martins' communications director.

" ... Starting out the school year with all of the necessary supplies really does set students up for success," she said.

Martins’ Mineola office, which also has a collection site, will distribute the school materials between two nonprofits — the The Youth and Family Counseling Agency (YFCA) of Oyster Bay-East Norwich and the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless.

Paredes said there were about 300 backpacks collected from the donation drive last year.

Barbara Rakusin, executive director of the YFCA of Oyster Bay-East Norwich, said her organization hands out back-to-school supplies for children in need who are living in Oyster Bay.

Rakusin said with families on tight budgets, the nonprofit allows kids to go back to school with new supplies like the majority of their classmates. She said Martins’ office reached out to her to offer school supplies to the people aided by her organization.

“[The donation drive] allows the kids to be walking in with all the new stuff like their peers ... and the parent is not burdened with spending money that they just can't afford," she said.

Cindy Wolfe heads the adult programming and outreach at the Great Neck Library, one of the drop-off sites, and said people are more inclined to donate after the July 4 weekend. That's when the back-to-school sales begin and continue into the late summer.

Like Paredes, Wolfe also mentioned how the cost of living has risen recently.

"I can only imagine, for families who ... see that list for a school year ... they are probably just wondering, ‘how are they going to do it this year?’" she said. "And so it's always good to just give back and give them a helping hand."