Hundreds of Jackson Heights neighbors attended a Back to School giveaway on Saturday where Liakas Law, a firm specializing in personal injury and civil rights, gave out 400 backpacks. Liakas gathered a group of volunteers from their staff and handed out backpacks to children and families getting ready to start a new school year in a few weeks.

According to the city’s Department of Education, New York has the largest school district in the country with roughly 915,000 registered students as of last year. A recent survey by senior economists and data analysts from personal finance company Nerdwallet estimates the cost of school supplies to be $541 per child ahead of this upcoming term, while the median monthly household income in Jackson Heights is $6,121.

“We really have been tightening our belts at our home for the past few weeks,” said Jonathan Dominguez, a Jackson Heights local at Liakas Law’s giveaway. “It’s very important for us to send our kids off to school with as many tools they need to be able to focus in class and succeed, but the prices keep going up.”

NYC was one of the hardest hit U.S. cities by inflation after the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s year-over-year inflation rate now sits at 2.9% after peaking at 9%, but most New Yorkers are still recovering.

“It feels good and very appropriate that we should make this effort every year to help ensure these kids get a better start on the school year,” said retired NY State Supreme Court Justice Mark Partnow, now a Senior Partner at Liakas Law.

“This community is just a microcosm of New York in general,“ said Nicholas Liakas, a senior partner at the law firm. “We’re a New York firm. We want to support New Yorkers. This is a city that we really take stock in, we believe in. This community is one of its underserved communities. We saw an opportunity to help and we wanted to make sure that we were able to give back.” 

The firm hosts different giveaways throughout the year, from turkeys and toy drives ahead of the holidays to coat drives in the winter. 

“We’re a personal injury and civil rights law firm and, if you look at the numbers, the communities of color that come from other parts of the world typically suffer disproportionately a higher rate of accidents and injuries whether it be at work or in areas that are not as safe as they could be because of economic reasons,” said Liakas. “The amount of people in this community in particular is extremely large and I don’t know if the resources are being given to cover this many people. I’ve seen government-run events take place, but they don’t cover the volume of people here. People do need support and the ability to work, to find good work, to be trained to work and to send their children to school.”

Queen’s Supreme Court Criminal Term Judge, Edwin Novillo, and his son showed up to lend a hand in distributing backpacks. 

“For this school year, I wish that the kids are able to integrate and get along with one another in an environment that’s conducive to learning and that they’re able to prosper,” said the judge.