In 2022, with a $1,000 donation from Red Hook Rotary, a $1,500 grant from Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health, a donation from Deep Roots Construction (Casey Van Voorhis), and Clynk monies raised by Red Hook Rotary and DKG (Dutchess County Alpha Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma - an International Society for Key Women Educators), over 120 backpacks were filled to the brim with school supplies (plus a box of tissues, a large tube of toothpaste, and a bamboo recyclable toothbrush) needed by students to start the 2022-23 academic year.
Additionally, Red Hook Rotary has reached out privately to several special needs classroom teachers where there is a need for supplemental school supplies in several local school districts. It should be noted that a donated book has also been placed in each backpack Pre-K-5.
Distribution was through various food pantries in the Red Hook Central School District. Red Hook Rotary and the Red Hook Rotary Foundation also generously donates $3,000 to Red Hook Harvest annually to alleviate food insecurity for families with children attending the Linden Avenue Middle School and Red Hook High School. Many of the same families express a need for school supplies for their children.
