Rain or Shine - We Deliver!
We hope you enjoyed our last blog “Behind the Scenes – the Forming Futures Backpacks”. After packing the first 200 backpacks we were now ready to deliver them in person the following day.
When Friday arrived, the rain was heavy but our moods were light. We traveled together to the Bronx carrying the 100 backpacks for students attending I.S. 219 - The New Venture School.
We admired the beautiful murals on the school façade while we waited for the Parent Coordinator Ms. Chaunita Orellana to come and usher us into the school. She came with a trolley and helped us carry the backpacks inside. A second trip was necessary to carry all 100 backpacks and Mica Quelle went with Ms. Orellana while the rest of us entered the building through the main doors. While going into the school, we were required to pass through a metal detector and show our credentials to an NYPD officer (yet another aspect of Public American High Schools that isn’t talked about enough), and finally, we made our way into the auditorium.
The Forming Futures team arrives to I.S. 219 and unloads 100 backpacks for students at the New Venture School
Donation event at the auditorium
The students started to come in in groups and we were all handing out the backpacks as multiple people came in at once. When the Principal, Mrs. Sabrina Cruz came in, she was ecstatic to see us and gave us all big hugs. Many of the students were shy and Mrs. Cruz was there with us all the time encouraging the students with her cheerful and caring demeanor. Mrs. Cruz talked to us about the importance of what we were doing and how many people were being helped by our actions. Several backpacks were parceled out to deliver them by the school administration to students who live in temporary shelters and were not in attendance that day. The two Assistant Principals, Mr. Ivan de Jesus and Mr. Billy Williams also arrived to help and we all joined in a group photo
The event went on with many smiles and ‘thank yous’ and the students were opening backpacks and saying “these are very good supplies!”. We were already outside the building and ready to leave when we realized we had forgotten a box full of backpacks in the car. So we tried to rush back in but the school doors were closed by now. We called both Ms. Orellana and Mrs. Cruz to give the backpacks to them when we noticed some students exiting through the school red doors and we rushed back in. As we were making our short way back to the auditorium there were students milling about talking about our backpacks and how they would like to get one. The backpacks went so fast that in the 5 minutes that it took Mrs. Orellana to arrive the last backpack was gone!
Mica, Xuan, Victoria, Matthew, Allegra and Zoe - Happy faces after meeting the students and Administration at IS 219
When we left the building again the sun was shining on us and we took a picture outside the school in front of the beautiful murals. We were happy feeling that we made other students happy as well today.
About Intermediate School 219 – The New Venture School
I.S. 219 – the New Venture School – is located in the South Bronx in NYC. The donation event was hosted by the Principal Ms. Sabrina Cruz.
I.S. 219 is a Title I school, which means that low-income families make up more than 40% of the student body. As of October 2021 nearly the whole school (approximately 96% of the students) qualified for free or reduced price lunch based on their family income being at or less than 130% of the federal poverty level, which is around $34,060 https://otda.ny.gov/workingfamilies/schoollunch.asp.
In terms of the New Venture School demographics, 98.5% of the students are minorities, with 60.7% of the student population being Hispanic/ LatinX and 36.6% are black or African American. https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/new-york/is-219-new-venture-school-264151
Some of the students (the percentage is unknown) are homeless and 36% of students miss 18 or more days of school (https://insideschools.org/school/09X219).
A big thanks to our wonderful hosts
We thank our wonderful hosts: Principal Ms. Sabrina Cruz, Assistant Principals Mr. Ivan de Jesus and Mr. Billy Williams, and Parent Coordinator Ms. Chaunita Orellana. We also Ms. Yadira Eleutice, the Family Support Coordinator of the School District 9 (Bronx) who helped us contact the school and coordinate the logistics with Ms. Orellana. They made everything easy for us and made us feel welcomed!
I.S. 219 Principal Mrs. Sabrina Cruz welcomes the Forming Futures team: Zoe, Allegra, Xuan, Mica, Matthew and Victoria
‘Forming Futures’ is a loving, and strongly dedicated organization.
Our corporate donors include ‘Staples’, ‘Dude Wipes,’ ‘Smarty Pits,’ ‘The Humble Co.,’ ‘Preserve,’ ‘The Dwight School,’ and ‘Little Seed Farm.’
If you would like to learn more about ‘Forming Futures’ you can visit our website at formingfutures.org (where you can also donate, and become a donor/partner). Keep up with Forming Futures on Instagram @formingfuturesnyc, Facebook, and LinkedIn and more!