56 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • AUGUST 31, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
kids & education
Are you a public school teacher? Pick up a ‘truckload’
of free supplies at this Long Island City warehouse
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com
School is almost back in session, and
one Long Island City organization is
againencouraging teachers to go shopping
Photo courtesy of Facebook/MFTA
Queens lawmakers’ bill to protect foster
children awaits governor’s signature
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Two Queens lawmakers are leading the
call to redefi ne family in hopes that children
in foster care are placed in permanent
homes more quickly.
State Senator Tony Avella and
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi are pushing
to amend certain aspects of the
state’s Kinship Guardianship Assistance
Program (KinGAP). First introduced in
March, the bill unanimously passed New
York State Legislature in June. On Aug.
22, the two lawmakers urged Governor
Andrew Cuomo to give the bill support
statewide.
Th e legislation would add step-parents,
godparents, neighbors or family friends
to the list of prospective permanent
guardians. It would also amend the defi -
nition of a “prospective relative guardian”
to lower the potential for sibling groups to
be broken apart.
KinGAP was designed to help a foster
child achieve permanent placement with
a relative who has been the child’s foster
parent for at least six months and provides
fi nancial assistance and, in most
cases, medical coverage for a child permanently
discharged from foster care to
a guardian.
Th e bill has received support from child
advocacy groups Schuyler Center and
Citizens’ Committee for Children.
“Th is bill is an important step toward
ensuring more children are able to leave
foster care for stable, permanent homes
with people who care for them,” said
Kari Siddiqui, Senior Policy Analyst at
the Schuyler Center for Analysis and
Advocacy. “We applaud Senator Avella
and Assembly member Hevesi for their
leadership on this issue and for being
a voice for New York’s children at the
Capitol.”
“Getting these amendments passed
were crucial to improving the future of
foster children across the state,” Avella
said. “All children in this state, whether
they are foster children or not, deserve to
have every possible opportunity aff orded
to them. I thank Assembly member
Hevesi for pushing this legislation in the
Assembly and his dedication to securing
the future of the children and families of
our state.”
To read the full details of the bill, visit
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/
bills/2017/s4833/amendment/a.
Photo via Shutterstock
for supplies at their massive warehouse
for free.
Materials for the Arts (MFTA)
which is operated by the Department
of Cultural Aff airs, with support from
the Department of Sanitation and
Department of Education (DOE), provides
free materials to teachers — from
binders to paper and computer chairs.
Th e organizers are hosting a Back-to-
School Shopping Spree starting Aug. 29 and
ending on Sept. 30. New York City public
school teachers can also visit the warehouse
to pick up supplies all year round. Th e
35,000-square-foot facility, located at 33-00
Northern Blvd., has 40 aisles fi lled with calculators,
binders, reams of paper, highlighters,
pens and pencils and more.
In addition to more traditional items,
public school teachers can pick up rolls of
fabric, board games, holiday ornaments,
instrument cases and gallons of paint.
Th ere is no limit on how many supplies
educators can pick up.
To take advantage of the free supplies,
teachers must make an appointment and
can pick up items on Tuesdays from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. (last appointment is noon)
and Th ursdays from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30
p.m. (last appointment is 4:30 p.m.).
A limited supply of MFTA project starter
kits will also be handed out to help
“inspire teachers to create projects with
less,” according to MFTA spokesperson
Kwame Belle.
“Materials for the Arts transforms
schools by giving teachers truckloads
of free materials they can use to make
hands-on learning possible for their students,”
said MFTA Director of Education
John Cloud Kaiser. “Th ese reusable materials
help the environment, invigorate
classrooms, and off er a sustainable source
of supplies. Schools that utilize these free
supplies have halls decorated with science
displays, rainforest models, Aztec masks,
accordion books, and many more brightly
colored, sophisticated projects made by
their students through their studies and
research in the classroom.”
Th e organization collects about 1.5 million
pounds of materials each year and
is the largest provider of art supplies to
New York City public schools. Materials
are donated by an eclectic mix of sources
including Poppin Offi ce Supplies,
fashion companies like Marc Jacobs and
Eileen Fisher, law fi rms, cultural institutions
such as Queens Museum and
the Metropolitan Museum of Art and
Broadway shows.
MFTA also hosts fi eld trips, in-school
residencies and public programs and
curates an art gallery.
If a teacher is looking to be added to
their school’s member account, they can
go through their principal or send an
email to education@mft a.nyc.gov.
New York City public school teachers can pick up free supplies in Long Island City.