Thomas Neve, the group’s founder and executive director, said he has enough backpacks to distribute to children on the big day, but is seeking donations of school supplies, including pens, pencils, notebooks, binders, loose leaf paper, and rulers.

“We have the backpacks. We always go out and buy them ahead of time. But we want to make sure the kids have something to put in the backpacks, so we need supplies,” Neve told this newspaper on Aug. 14.

Neve said he expects to hand out at least 500 backpacks on Aug. 23.

Anyone interested in making a donation can drop off school supplies at RCS at 7708 New Utrecht Ave. The office is open Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

RCS has been conducting backpack giveaways for eight years.

The event is not open to the public. But the day is usually a busy one for kids, Neve said. At the events held in previous years, children were given backpacks at the door and were then invited to visit tables that were set up with school supplies so that they could fill their new backpacks with the items they needed to start off the school year right.

“We’re not looking to give the kids designer sneakers. We’re talking basic supplies,” Neve said.

Children must come from families who are already registered as clients of RCS to be eligible to take part in the backpack giveaway.

Neve, a retired New York City sanitation worker, founded RCS in 1992 and immediately began operating a food pantry. In 1996, the pantry became the first of its kind to operate like a supermarket. Under the system, patrons are allowed to select the items they want to take home to eat, as opposed to other charitable pantries in which food items are given to recipients by workers.

RCS was an outgrowth of charitable efforts Neve had made earlier.  Starting in 1989, he drove a van around Bensonhurst on his time off from work and gave food to the homeless.

Within a few years, RCS expanded its services to provide additional help for struggling residents, including assistance applying for food stamp benefits and other government programs.

There are currently 9,000 families registered with RCS that receive assistance on a regular basis.

For more information about the backpack giveaway, visit www.rcsprograms.org or call the group’s Events Hotline at 917-509-9055.

CORRECTION: The original version of article identified the backpack giveaway as Operation Backpack. That is not the name of the project sponsored by Reaching-Out Community Services. We regret the error.

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