CAPP’s full leadership team stepped in to spread the word and distribute the goods at our Broad St. location, along with a team of volunteers from Price Rite. Each family received a box of food, a box of essentials like shampoo, lotion, and other body products, 2 backpacks with school supplies, and other shelf stable items.

The event kicked off with remarks from Joe Allegro of Feed the Children, outgoing Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, State Senator Valerie Lawson, Darrell Waldron of the Rhode Island Indian Council, and our President and CEO Rilwan Feyisitan, Jr.

We were also joined by Providence Superintendent Javier Montañez, who shared a bit about his experience as a student, teacher and principal in the Providence Public School System. “For years I’ve seen students who could not focus, their behaviors were not what they needed to be, they didn’t come to school. Why? Because you’re looking at essentials, what you see here today, a backpack, materials, food, stuff just to take care of their hygiene. They didn’t have this. Their focus was on that instead of on school.”

Montañez noted his gratitude for the work of the organizations who partnered in getting the essentials and event together, “and I cannot tell you how important it is for our students to have these amenities.”