Community Offshore Wind prepared New Jersey students and teachers to start the school year by providing 400 school supply kits to students across the state. Kits included a variety of back-to-school essentials, such as backpacks, notebooks, pencils, and binders. Community Offshore Wind worked with teachers at each school to identify their students’ and classrooms’ specific needs.

These donations were part of Community Offshore Wind’s broader back-to-school donation program, which also provided 600 school supply kits to students in New York. In total, the initiative provided 1,000 kits to schools in disadvantaged communities across the region.  

This donation is the latest effort by Community Offshore Wind to support schools and programs that increase access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and training programs that provide students from underrepresented communities with the knowledge and skills they will need for jobs in the offshore wind industry. During Engineers Week 2024, the joint venture funded field trips for students from Ironbound to iFly. And in August, Community Offshore Wind partnered with the All Things Are Possible Foundation to organize a field trip for about 30 New Jersey students to participate in an educational fishing trip to learn about marine sciences and conservation.

“The clean energy transition is going to bring tens of thousands of good jobs to New York, including many in the offshore wind industry. The students who are in school now are going to be the workers building our clean energy future in the years to come,” said Doug Perkins, President and Project Director of Community Offshore Wind. “Community Offshore Wind is making sure New York students are ready by investing in programs that will spark a love of science and engineering. We’re committed to building strong, local partnerships that will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of New Yorkers and prepare them to pursue good-paying careers in offshore wind.”

“For far too many families, the cost of preparing to send students back to school represents an untenable financial burden, resulting in many children lacking the resources they need to make the most of their time in the classroom,” said Christian Callahan, Family Friendly Center Program Manager for Ironbound Community Corporation. “We are thankful for Community Offshore Wind’s generous donation. They’ve prepared a donation that will truly impact the lives of our students and set them on a path toward an equitable education that opens the door to remarkable opportunities later in life.”

The offshore wind industry in New Jersey has the potential to create more than 20,000 jobs by 2030 across the state, but there is currently a shortage of workers with the skills necessary to qualify for those positions. Community Offshore Wind’s STEM education programs are addressing this skills gap by sparking a love of science among students from underrepresented communities and equipping them with the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in offshore wind and other STEM-related jobs.

Since its launch in 2022, Community Offshore Wind has been an active and engaged neighbor to New York communities. The project has funded field trips for more than 140 New York students to local museums, donated 900 coats to families in need during the winter months, and provided 30,000 fresh seafood meals to food banks throughout the state.