Out With The Old, In With The Future

What a year! Grad Bag, like many other not-for-profit organizations, has been impacted by the pandemic and, accordingly, has chosen to suspend its operations during 2020 and 2021. Early in the pandemic, the Board concluded that colleges and universities would be offering classes virtually or in a hybrid fashion and that there would be fewer students on campus making Grad Bag’s mission difficult to achieve. But that didn’t mean Grad Bag has been dormant. It has been a period filled with tactical planning for the expansion of partnerships and reach to more students.

So who is Grad Bag and what is its mission? The Grad Bag mission is twofold: to support underserved college bound students and to advance sustainability. Grad Bag is a grassroots organization started by two Scarsdale residents, Liz Gruber and Tara Tyberg. As they moved their children out of their college dormitories, they noted the amount of dorm goods students threw into the dumpster at the end of the year. Knowing how expensive it is to outfit dorm rooms, they knew that a sustainability project could take flight. Starting in 2012, Grad Bag collected, cleaned, packaged, inventoried and then distributed enough dorm goods for 30 students. Grad Bag’s last fully active year of collection, 2019, yielded 20,000 (10 tons!) pounds of refurbished and recycled dorm items involving 16 college and university, 20 grantee organizations and over 1,700 students. The items went to college bound recipients who might not have the means to buys these things on their own and harnessed multiple teams of volunteers. A true win/ win proposition for all.

Grad Bag, a 501(c)3 organization, will be back as soon as it can, better prepared and able to continue its work having spent the downtime strategizing on how and where Grad Bag will grow in the future. With its expanded Board, a formalized five -year plan and the planned addition of an Executive Director, the organization is well positioned to hit the ground running. If you would like to partner, donate, volunteer, apply for the Executive Director position, or would just like more information, please visit gradbag.org.