Low-Income College Students In Westchester To Receive Free Dorm Room Supplies From Grad Bag On July 19 At College Zone In Yonkers

In attics and storage units across the country, you'll find the ubiquitous x-long twin sheet set and comforter -- bought especially for the extra-long college beds and never to be used again by graduates. That's where Liz Gruber and Tara Tyberg, the co-founders of Grad Bag and two Scarsdale, NY mothers, and their team of volunteers come in.

On college move out days at Columbia, Barnard, Princeton, NYU and many other campuses, Grad Bag volunteers load up U-Haul trucks with linens and other dorm room items that have been donated or discarded by students and collected by sustainability groups. Grad Bag’s work ensures that these items won’t end up in storage, or worse, in landfills. Then, Grad Bag closes the loop by cleaning, repackaging, and redistributing the goods.

On Friday, July 19, over 125 incoming college freshmen, who are participating in Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE), a non-profit organization that helps low-income Yonkers Public School students prepare for college, will go to Grad Bag’s one-day pop up “shop” filled with dorm room items – all without price tags. The event will take place beginning at 10 a.m. at YPIE’s College Zone located at 92 Main Street in Yonkers (next to the Yonkers train station. )

In addition, students who work with Let’s Get Ready will also receive free dorm supplies at the event. Let’s Get Ready (LGR) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that provides low-income high school students from Philadelphia, PA to Lewiston, ME with free SAT preparation, admissions counseling and other support services needed to gain admission to and graduate from college.

This summer, Grad Bag plans to outfit over 1,300 low-income college students with dorm supplies. In addition to bedding, students will receive lamps, towels, decorative pillows, hangers and rugs. To these families, having a child go to college is a bewildering and expensive process. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2016 Back to College Study, students spend an average of $114.21 outfitting their dorm room. Not having to shop for dorm supplies is an enormous help.

Grad Bag was founded in 2012 by two Westchester County moms, Liz Gruber and Tara Tyberg, who realized there were so many dorm room items that graduating seniors no longer needed, but were still in great condition. Instead of having the sets of XL sheets and twin comforters thrown away or gathering dust in attics, Grad Bag addresses two social issues: insuring that low-income students won’t have to stress about equipping their dorm rooms while recycling objects that would otherwise not be used.