Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

Kyleigh Richmond, 16, helps her sister, Larrae Rutledge, 3, fill her backpack with school supplies during the 23rd Annual Mary Nelson Youth Resource Center Back to School Supply Giveaway at Sankofa Park on Aug. 17.

Central New York students and their families waited in long lines during the event, which offered thousands of backpacks, school supplies, back-to-school clothing and food.

read more of central current’s coverage

Michelle Gabel is a Syracuse-based independent photojournalist who captures the human experience through documentary photography and portraiture. Her long-form photography projects tell complex, contemporary...