Needham Organizations Strive to ‘Even the Playing Field’ for Local Students

August 10, 2026
• Ahead of the start of the school year, local groups aim to help students enter with new supplies and newfound confidence.

Needham Public Schools students return to the classroom Sept. 2 — for kindergartners and preschoolers, it’s Sept. 3 — meaning families are likely now reviewing the litany of supplies their kids need this year. Backpacks, pencils, notebooks, binders, glue sticks and more add up, which can put a financial burden on parents and caretakers.

“The struggle for survival is absolutely real,” said Laurie Blake, resident services coordinator at the Needham Housing Authority, which primarily houses low-income residents across several properties.

The NHA is one of several local organizations holding back-to-school fundraisers and donation drives to support students in need. Blake is soliciting donations for backpacks and various other supplies ahead of the NHA’s end-of-summer cookout on Aug. 26, where they aim to give out 30-40 backpacks to students living at Captain Robert Cook and High Rock Estates.

Through the new initiative, Blake said she hopes all ages can “have the tools they need for a successful school year.”

“It’s always nice for these kids to feel like they’re a part of the community and not an outcast, that they have a new backpack, they have new school supplies,” she said. “It’s important for their confidence to start the school year. A lot of these families under the [NHA] umbrella are struggling to make ends meet, so this is something that we can do to help make something a little bit easier.”

The NHA is looking for pens, pencils, erasers, lined paper, folders, three-ring binders, crayons, erasers, highlighters, markers and other appropriate supplies, which can be dropped off at 5 Highland Circle Suite 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays.

For the Needham Community Council, staff continue to see elevated levels of need. Its food pantry currently serves 414 Needham families — up from about 300 in 2025 — Executive Director Sandy Robinson said, and many of the students it supports before the school year are part of those families.

The council assisted 190 students last year in the form of $50 gift cards, mostly for Target, to cover classroom necessities. The vast majority of those students are K-12 and beneficiaries of the food pantry, but the NCC also supports adults taking certification courses and college classes. Robinson said they anticipate a similar level of need this year.

“We want to even the playing field a little bit and make sure everybody is prepared,” Robinson said. “The teachers have said this to me over and over again, how much they have appreciated the fact that it allows every child to have those extra things that are needed to [make] their education strong.”

Supply lists can get specific, making donation drives not as effective, Robinson said. NCC’s Sue Gilbert said she added up the cost of her own child’s list last year, which came out to nearly $100.

“That is a good chunk of change,” Gilbert said. “I just think about a child who would otherwise maybe show up to school on the first day of school and not have the supplies, all the supplies or the right supplies, and how this program is able to make sure that that doesn’t happen… That to me is very impactful, that a child doesn’t have to contend with that type of stress or that type of feeling, that type of stigma or feeling like they don’t belong in any way.”

Families nationwide are overwhelmingly concerned about the high cost of living as prices for goods continue to climb at faster rates than earnings.

Storytime Crafts, a literacy nonprofit based in Needham, is soliciting donations for backpacks and new school supplies to go primarily to the Sarah Greenwood K-8 School in Dorchester, a longtime partner. At the dual-language school, about 88% of its students are identified as low-income, and 95.5% have high needs, according to data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Lisa Vergara, founder and president of Storytime Crafts, said their goal is to fill “the gap in learning and diversity and equity” through a series of book donations and programs, as well as providing hygiene kits to Boston-area children.

“They’re really just trying to feed their kids,” Vergara said of in-need families. “It just relieves a lot of anxiety for families.”

Storytime Crafts is co-hosting their back-to-school drive with Dedham Savings and holding two additional corporate drives with Evolve by Nature and Shark Ninja, who are also headquartered in town.

Residents can drop off donations at Storytime Crafts, located at 20 Kearney Rd., during their donation drop-off hours until Aug. 29. Dedham Savings on Highland Avenue will also accept donations for the drive.

This is the nonprofit’s fifth back-to-school initiative.

“There’s just so much need out there,” Vergara said. “I grew up in Needham, and my family never had that much, and we raised our kids in Needham very modestly. I just see that there’s so much need and there’s so much abundance in this community, and people are so happy to contribute.”

All three organizations stressed the generous spirit of Needham families, who allow these programs to be effective and reach those in need. Blake, of the NHA, said she is grateful for the support.

“I stress it to residents all the time, that they are very fortunate to live in the community that they live in because the resources and the people in this community that are so willing to help is just amazing,” she said.