Grad Bag, a Let’s Get Ready partner organization that collects, cleans, and sorts lightly used dorm supplies for reuse by incoming students, just held its first giveaway of the season at Sarah Lawrence in Bronxville, New York. The group of nearly 100 students chose from a selection of storage containers, bedsheets, furniture, and cushions to take home for free.

LoHud.com, the local affiliate of the USA Today Network, was on the scene and spoke to a number of students, who are alumni of Let’s Get Ready‘s College Access Programs, which serve students from low-income  circumstances, most of whom are the first in their family to attend college. Many of them told LoHud that they viewed the Grad Bag giveaway as an early reward for their academic efforts.

“It means I followed through and I completed something and now I know I’m getting a reward for going through the mentoring program,”  said Jeanenny Currie of New Rochelle.

To read the full LoHud.com article, click here.

Photos below by M.A. Jessamy: