STATE bags gives back to PS 188

On Wednesday, April 20, walking up the stairs to the fourth floor of PS 188 on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the sound of bumping music, excited elementary school students, and an enthusiastic team of philanthropists teaching students motivational chants could be heard. This is the usual scene for STATE Bags bag drop program.

PS 188 is one of many underprivileged schools in Manhattan, where around half of the student population lives in temporary housing. These are the exact kind of communities that STATE bag founders Scot Tatelman and Jacqueline "Jacq" Tatelman have committed to help and uplift through their buy one, give one program. For every one of their bags bought, a backpack is given to a child in need. They have gone all around the country holding motivational events like these to inspire positive growth and uplift underserved and disadvantaged communities, dropping off free backpacks as part of their bag drop program to make students lives a little bit easier.

STATE Bags were created to address the needs of American children living with challenging and often critical circumstances. Their business model is similar to Toms shoes in terms of the buy one, give one model.

The idea for STATE Bags dates all the way back to 2005. Scot collaborated with The Mark Wahlberg Foundation and The Boys and Girls Clubs in Dorchester, Massachusetts to create Camp Northbound in Maine. The camp, now in its eleventh year, serves the inner city youth of Boston.

STATE Bags bag drop helps provide back packs to children in need

Following the success of Camp Northbound, Scot built a similar program in New York City for kids in the most underserved and underprivileged communities, which led to the creation of his nonprofit organization and their signature program Camp POWER.

"When we started the summer program we became very involved in the kids lives and wanted to do more," Scot said. "We began to notice this very consistent theme of kids carrying their stuff in trash bag, so we wanted to support kids in the U.S. We saw a lot of countries doing incredible work overseas, and we wanted to do something focused here in the U.S."

STATE Bags came about as a combination of Scott's love for philanthropy and his background for marketing combined with his wife Jacq's passion and experience in fashion. Prior to cofounding their nonprofit with her husband, Jacq had numerous stints in fashion.

Her love for fashion dates all the way back to her days as a toddler when her mother owned a clothing boutique. She began her career in the fashion industry as an Executive Assistant for Kenneth Cole. She would later move on to be an assistant buyer at Scoop and Henri Bendel. Eventually, she wound up in the product development department of Saks Fifth Avenue, where she oversaw knitwear.

While the non-profit and the camp have been going for over a decade, STATE Bags didn't start until January 2013. The company has several retail partners including Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Equinox, and ShopBop just to name a few.

While their location for yesterday's bag drop was PS 188, STATE Bags does not limit their philanthropy to just New York City and the Northeast.

"We will go anywhere in the United States that there is a need," Jacq said. "We hope to go across the country, we hope to hit every neighborhood where there children in at-risk situations, or poverty, or any situation that would require them to need a new backpack."

To date, STATE Bags bag drop has hit cities from coast to coast. A few years ago, they did a partnership with Beyonce and her charity movement and hit six cities during back to school season. So far, they've mostly hit major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Detroit, and Denver, but Scot affirms that "we're willing to go anywhere there is a need."

Lately, the company has been working on expanding their bag offerings as well. They have begun dabbling with totes and leather offerings looking to increase their customer base. Of course, they made sure the customer comes first when making these decisions.

"We talked to the mom who is the kind of person who doesn't want to carry her Celine to the playground. We're trying to capture the casual bag market in a way that isn't just backpacks. We're trying to create the kind of bags that are functional and fashionable for her, and also offerings she can buy for her children or husband, and she'll always feel like she has her whole fashion thing going on," Jacq said.

Price points for STATE Bags range from 55 dollars to 235 dollars. In addition to their aforementioned wholesale and retail partners, the bags are also available on www.statebags.com

photo: Credit @seaandshoots