The Cruty family arrived at the Apalachin Library to present a check and donate backpacks during a brief ceremony held recently.
The Apalachin Library inaugurated the Irene Cruty Memorial Back to School Backpack Program on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The Cruty family came to present a check and donate backpacks during a brief ceremony held at the library, located at 719 Main St., Apalachin.
Backpacks are available at the library for students who need them. However, the majority of the backpacks and school supplies collected and purchased through the Irene Cruty Memorial were donated to the Tioga County Department of Social Services to benefit the hundreds of children they serve every day.
“There is a great need for school supplies and backpacks for children who’s families are receiving services,” according to Foster and Adoptive Homefinder Sarah Moore.
Moore attended the event to accept 50 backpacks, each packed with notebooks, dry erase markers, pencils and paper among other common items drawn from area school district supply lists. Moore said she had over 20 of the backpacks accounted for when she arrived, and her co-workers were compiling lists of other children whose families were in need of assistance getting school supplies.
Moore said several families don’t have the resources to make ends meet, and when school time comes they are hard pressed to purchase all the items that students are requested to bring with them to class.
Other items collected by the Apalachin Library included toothbrushes and other hygiene supplies, which Moore said are also in short supply for children receiving services.
While staff, patrons, and children participating in the Apalachin Library’s summer reading program to foster early literacy collected supplies all summer, the bulk of the supplies came from the family of Irene Cruty.
Stephen Cruty worked with the Library to establish a memorial for his mother Irene J. Cruty, who passed away in August of 2014.
“She was an avid reader, member, patron and volunteer of The Apalachin Library,” Cruty said, adding, “It was her desire to see the library continue to flourish.”
In addition to the Back to School Backpack Program, the Irene J. Cruty Memorial also planted seed money for a memorial reading garden, and funding to increase the library’s large print reading collection. A total of $7,000 was given to the Apalachin Library for these goals.
If you know of a family who is in need of school supplies, contact the Apalachin Library at 625-3333 or stop by to request assistance.
