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Astorino recently sent a letter to local schools asking them to join in the effort. As encouragement, the county will also provide several free, one-day passes to Playland to each Westchester County school that signs up and participates.
"Super Kids-Super Sharing fits naturally with Westchester's commitment to giving back," Astorino said in a statement. "Together I know we will show that Westchester has the heart, the drive and the spirit to make this a huge success. Our students never cease to amaze me when it comes to volunteerism. Plus, Super Kids-Super Sharing helps promote our goal of 'recycling' items for new uses."
Participating schools will ask their students to gather gently used or new books and sports equipment from home and place those items in collection boxes at school. Most school collections will begin in early January. Super Kids-Super Sharing collection events will be held in New York and New Jersey.
A new feature this year is the addition of Verizon's "HopeLine" program to collect used cell phones. Proceeds from the collection will be donated to domestic violence prevention organizations and local shelters.
The project will culminate on January 16 at Riverbank State Park in Harlem, where several students and coordinators from each participating school will be invited to attend and deliver the items collected.
Representatives from the NFL, New York Jets, New York Giants and the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee will be on hand. Participants will also have the opportunity to enjoy the "Huddle Shuttle," an interactive football display that gives them a chance to test their own football skills.
"The energy at Riverbank State Park will be incredible," Astorino added in the statement. "What could be better than helping others while gearing up for the excitement of the Super Bowl? Westchester is thrilled that the big game will be right in our backyard this February."
Super Kids-Super Sharing has been implemented in Super Bowl host communities for the past 14 years and has made hundreds of thousands of books and pieces of sports equipment available to kids in need. The program also promotes NFL PLAY 60, the league's youth health and wellness campaign, by sharing sports equipment among children in the community.
Public and private schools are welcome to take part.
The NFL provides posters, flyer templates, instructions and other materials to make this project easy to implement.
Individual schools may register by emailing the name of their school, address and contact information to the NFL Environmental Program at NFLenvironment@aol.com or call (401) 732-0342. The Westchester County team also stands ready to help.
If assistance is needed in setting up or getting items to the collection site, please contact Elena Rogliano at erogliano@westchestergov.com or (914) 995-2932.
A collection bin will also be set up at the Westchester County Center, 198 Central Ave., White Plains.
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