JACKSON — When it comes to bargains, Joseph Brill knows how to find them.

The Jackson resident not only can stretch a dollar, but he has soft spot for children.

He proved that once again this year, when he — along with wife Diane and residents at the Westlake Mews senior development — donated 130 back-to-school bags to students at the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School yesterday.

Brill, 59, spent months shopping for the supplies, which included basic needs such as pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, rulers, glue, markers and folders. The supplies were packaged into 130 separate plastic bags by volunteers from the senior apartment complex.

"I grew up poor, and when I was young, I had to borrow notebooks and pencils from neighbors when I went to school," Brill said. "So I wanted to do something so kids in the neighborhood wouldn't have to do that. That's why we came up with the idea."

Last year, the Brills and friends bought 50 such packages for students at the elementary school.

It was so effective, the apartment community was invigorated to work harder on fundraising and shopping. Joseph Brill said he spent hours in stores trying to find the best deals on school supplies, in order to help even more children than a year ago.

Some of the donors to the project included the Lu's Place beauty salon on Muirfield Road, the Westlake Mews Tenants Association, former Mayor Michael J. Kafton, township resident Kathy Sheehan and apartment complex district manager Michelle Storino Conifer.

"When we started to separate all the supplies Joe had bought, there were nothing but boxes and boxes in his one-bedroom apartment," said John Brechka, a donor and resident of the apartment complex. "The hardest part was taking all the boxes to the community center."

It was at the community center where 15 to 20 people helped to package the products into the bags. The process took less than two hours, even though quality control was rather intense.

"A couple of times we had to take all the bags apart because we wanted to make sure every bag had the same thing," said Brechka, who added that the average age of the volunteers is about 75.

About 500 students attend Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School. They range from kindergartners to fifth-graders.

Principal Michael Raymond said while some of his students are from middle-class families, others are poor.

"Unfortunately, we have some kids in our school who come from homeless backgrounds," said Raymond, who is in his second year as the school principal. "But these donations will help all of the students start the year on equal footing. I can't tell you enough how important that is to the education process."

Educators and the school nurse will check the backgrounds of the students to determine who needs the supplies the most, Raymond said. Those with the most need will receive the packages.

Kafton helped to coordinate the effort when Brill came to him with the idea last year. Residents at Westlake Mews rental apartments collectively adopted the school as their pet project, Kafton said.

"There are six elementary schools in Jackson, and it would be great for other groups and communities to get involved in projects such as this," Kafton said. "What Joe and the people at Westlake Mews have done will help a lot of kids this year."