A local Bronx organization recently ensured local students were equipped for success for the upcoming school year.
Late last month, the Bronx Community Foundation continued its tradition of dedicated support of students and youth across the borough by providing free backpacks, digital access and other technology and education resources in preparation for the 2026-27 Academic year.
The Bronx Community Foundation collaborated with local Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo, who represents the 84th Assembly District, for a backpack and school supplies giveaway at the Mott Haven Houses on Aug. 27, followed by a second giveaway in partnership with local initiatives BRAG and Bronx Spreading Love on Aug. 28 in Co-op City.
A total of 600 backpacks were given away at the two events, according to the Bronx Community Foundation.
In the nine years since its inception, the Bronx Community Foundation has strengthened local communities through arts, culture, civic engagement and social services, advocated for racial, social and economic justice, provided economic relief, workforce and small business support and increased access to health and mental health services.
LaToya Williams-Belfort, the Bronx Community Foundation’s executive director, feels a deeply personal connection to her work.
“Growing up in the Bronx — I saw hardworking, talented families encounter barriers that had nothing to do with their ambition or potential,” Williams-Belfort said. “Now, as a mother of two sons who were born in the Bronx, I want them and every young person in this borough to have an equitable opportunity to build a life that feels successful, secure and joyful.”
A former Bronx resident yet still a Bronxite at heart, Williams-Belfort believes the Bronx has never lacked talent, creativity or resilience. She told the Bronx Times she loves helping place the power of resources and decision making in the hands of people who understand their communities best.
Williams-Belfort, who has 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership roles, was raised in the northeast Bronx and also commuted from the Bronx to Midtown Manhattan for high school. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications from SUNY Old Westbury and became the first person in her family to attend college. She also lived on Eastchester Road for a time as an adult.
After she graduated, Williams-Belfort began her career in global marketing and relationship management in the publishing and events industries and held several successful senior leadership tenures at various nonprofit organizations.
She was named the inaugural executive director for the Fifteen Percent Pledge, which was established in 2020 to close the racial wealth gap, create economic equity and build sustainable support for Black entrepreneurs.
Williams-Belfort became the Bronx Community Foundation’s executive director in November 2025. She told the Bronx Times she was drawn to the role because it offered an opportunity to bring more than two decades of nonprofit and philanthropic leadership back to the community which helped shape her.
“The opportunity to lead the Bronx Community Foundation felt like a homecoming,” Williams-Belfort said. “Unlike a direct service organization, the Bronx Community Foundation can support many nonprofits and community leaders working on the ground while also helping them strengthen their capacity, build partnerships and plan for long term sustainability.”
Williams-Belfort added this community-based funding model is especially powerful in historically underinvested communities like the Bronx because the organizations closest to residents already hold the trust, relationships and neighborhood knowledge needed to reach families effectively.
“Rather than arriving with outside assumptions, we can listen to Bronxites, invest in the solutions they identify and build lasting capacity that remains within the community,” she said.
Since it was established, the Bronx Community Foundation has delivered more than $15 million in grants and resources and reached approximately 175,000 Bronx residents.
Currently the only borough-wide community foundation in the Bronx, the Bronx Community Foundation was founded in 2017 after twin brothers Derrick and Desmon Lewis recognized the need for a dedicated institution which could attract resources and invest those resources directly into the borough.
“A new backpack, school supplies, a little extra support – sometimes those things can make a big difference for a family,” Septimo said in an Instagram post from Aug. 30 which highlighted the Mott Haven Houses backpack giveaway.
The Bronx Community Foundation has partnered with the Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation, Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, Nazareth Housing, Astor Services for Children & Families and Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, among other local organizations. They also collaborated with national nonprofit LIFT to provide digital literacy training and laptops to Bronx families and Sapna NYC to pair devices with digital literacy education.
Assemblywoman Emérita Torres, who represents the 85th Assembly District, as well as Councilman Kevin Riley of Council District 12 have also partnered with the Bronx Community Foundation.
Riley, who represents several northeast Bronx neighborhoods and was present at the Aug. 28 giveaway in Co-op City, is especially grateful to the Bronx Community Foundation for their continued commitment to the students of his council district.
He told the Bronx Times the leadership of LaToya Williams-Belford, the Bronx Community Foundation continues to be a tremendous partner in building a stronger, healthier and more connected Bronx.
“Their enormous contributions of back-to-school supplies have provided our young people with the tools they need to begin the school year prepared, confident and ready to learn,” Riley said. “We are proud to have a partner that believer in our students, invests in our communities and continues to show up for the Bronx in meaningful ways.”
Riley highlighted the Bronx Community Foundation commitment to the expansion of access to healthy food options, to ensure more Bronx families have the resources they need to thrive.
The Bronx council member also emphasized the organization’s investments in internet access and Chromebook to help the digital divide and give students the tools they need to succeed in today’s classrooms.
“They understand that uplifting the Bronx means creating opportunity at every level from our classrooms and local businesses to our community organizations and families,” Riley said.
The Bronx Community Foundation’s public-facing taglines are “Building a Better Bronx” and “By Us, For Us” because they collectively reflect the organization’s belief that Bronx residents should not only benefit from investment but also help determine what the investment goes toward, which solutions are supported and what the future of their borough looks like, according to Williams-Belfort.
“Strong communities are built when residents are not simply recipients of assistance but partners in identifying needs and creating solutions,” she said.
Williams-Belfort, who saw the two backpack and school supply giveaways as a demonstration of what’s possible when community organizations, elected leaders and local partners come together around the needs of Bronx families. She also told the Bronx Times that the Bronx Community Foundation will host their second Day of Action event in mid-November.
“A backpack, a lap or a bag of groceries may appear simple, but for a family under pressure, it can relieve an immediate burden, protect household stability and send a powerful message to a child — your community believes in you and your future is worth investing in,” she said.
The Bronx Community Foundation has also helped distribute more than 2,500 Chromebooks and hotspots in total and overall have supported more than 500 paid virtual internships for Bronx students.
“We are proud to have a partner that believes in our students, invests in our communities and continues to show up for the Bronx in meaningful ways,” Riley said.
Back in March, the Bronx Community Foundation hosted its first Day of Collective Action and Giving in Hunts Point, where the nonprofit distributed more than 200 laptops to local schoolchildren as well as $45,000 in grants to Bronx community-based organizations.
