Manor ladies fill backpacks for students
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer

KATHY CHANG The seniors at the Maple Tree Manor on Rahway Avenue in Avenel have been collecting backpacks and filling them with school supplies for schoolchildren in the township for the past three years. From l-r: Phyllis Wilcher, Lucille Silva, Tery Fedkow, Sybil Gray, Carolyn Misiewicz and Judy Burke.

WOODBRIDGE - For three years, the seniors at the Maple Tree Manor on Rahway Avenue in the Avenel section of the township have helped to collect backpacks and fill them with school supplies for schoolchildren in the township.

"I told the ladies I wanted to do something," said Tery Fedko, who is part of the committee with five other women - Judy Burke, Sybil Gray, Carolyn Misiewicz, Lucille Silva and Phyllis Wilcher - at the manor.

The women have worked with Kathy Saporito, who started an after-school program called Helping Hands for fourthand fifth-graders five years ago.

"I just knew the children were lacking something," said Saporito, who is a second-grade teacher at Avenel Street Elementary School 4 and 5. "When I kept hearing them reach out because their parents were too busy, it broke my heart. Then I visited the manor, and it was like a light bulb which was waiting to be lit went off in my head."

Saporito said her program of approximately 40 students and the seniors at the Maple Tree Manor are like one big family.

"We meet twice a month from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Avenel Street School 4 and 5," she said. "We make cards and crafts throughout the year and have refreshments. We have the seniors come to the school by bus, and we come to the manor."

Saporito said the time spent together is great for the kids and for the seniors.

"The program is filling a lot of voids," she said.

Saporito went to pick up the backpacks at the manor on Sept. 7.

"I actually didn't know they were collecting backpacks until their second year," she said. "We give out the backpacks to the kids that need them the most at the Avenel Street School."

The women collected 90 backpacks and had 30 backpacks filled with notebooks, paper, glue, pencils, pens, rulers and more with the help of a $30 donation from Target, $25 from BJ's Wholesale Club, and $25 from Wal-Mart.