The Costco Wholesale Co. has adopted John F. Kennedy School to help provide services and supplies that the school may need.
By:Nick D’Amore
JAMESBURG The Costco Wholesale Co., which will be located in Monroe Township, is trying to be a good neighbor to the surrounding area.
The company has adopted John F. Kennedy School to help provide services and supplies that the school may need.
The first part of being a "brother" to the school was a backpack donation program, said Betty Mihansky, who works in the human resources department and who helped spearhead the program.
"This was our first introduction to the school," she said. "We don’t know what all their needs are. Once we move in in September, we’ll see what they need."
She added they had also donated several soccer balls to the school.
JFK Principal Shirley Bzdewka said she was pleasantly surprised when the backpacks arrived earlier this month.
"They were very high quality and I expected them to be empty because they’re empty when sold in stores," she said.
However, inside the 600 green canvas backpacks were school supplies, such as notepads, pencils and pens, as well as eight different snacks for the children to enjoy.
"It’s quite a community service outreach. This gesture helped children in the school community that may not have been able to afford it," said Ms. Bzdewka.
Ms. Mihansky said Costco adopts a school at all of its locations.
"When we were moving to Monroe, we did some investigating and saw JFK was the most needy," she said.
She said the company provides reading incentives for children, such as ice cream upon completing a certain reading level or tutoring services.
"We’ve been doing the backpack program for five years and we let the parents know ahead of time, so they know not to buy the supplies," said Ms. Mihansky.
She said the work of filling the backpacks is usually done by volunteers, but her facility in Keasby is a production facility.
"We were able to set up a production line and everybody just pitched in," she said.
Ms. Bzdewka said she posted a note on the door of the school announcing the backpacks’ arrival and displayed one in the window.
"This is such an effort of generosity. The kids are really excited," she said.

