Make the Road NY hosted its annual back-to-school event for the borough of Queens last Saturday in Jackson Heights, giving out free backpacks and school supplies to anyone who came out.

With many families continuing to face financial hardship due to the pandemic, the event has become even more important as a resource for community members with the school year quickly approaching.

Vanessa González, an intern at Make the Road NY, was behind the scenes at the event. She could be found endlessly pulling bookbags of all colors from a huge stockpile in the back and neatly arranging them on the table in the front, putting them on display for kids to choose exactly which color and style they wanted.

“I’m just getting the bags ready,” she said, making light of her herculean effort.

“We’ve been here since 10 a.m., and we’ll be here until 5 p.m. giving out backpacks to the community,” added Julissa Bisono, co-organizing director with the group, meaning they would be staying three hours later than anticipated, highlighting just how extensive the effort truly was.