Assistance League of Atlanta Adds Homeless Middle School Students to its School Clothing Program — In addition to serving more than 12,600 impoverished elementary students in three Atlanta school systems
Assistance League of Atlanta, an all-volunteer, charitable organization that helps improve the lives of children and adults in need, is getting ready for another school year. Through Operation School Bell, its philanthropic program that provides new school clothing to elementary students in three Atlanta school systems (DeKalb County Schools, Fulton County Schools and Atlanta Public Schools), the charity has clothed over 110,000 school children in need since 1993. This year, the organization began a pilot project serving a limited number of homeless middle school students.
For the 2014 school year, Assistance League of Atlanta served over 12,600 elementary school students including more than 2,600 homeless children and fire victims. In August, Assistance League began serving homeless students in more than 50 middle schools. Homeless children include those in shelters, short-term motels, living with other families, and living in cars. School clothing is distributed to children identified by school social workers as needing assistance.
Social workers in the school systems have reported a desperate need for middle school clothing (grades 6-8). According to them, there is no agency currently serving this population in the way that Operation School Bell does. In some cases, elementary students share their school uniforms with older siblings who have no uniforms to wear. The middle school pilot project was started with $15,000 in grant funds from the Chick-fil-A Foundation and The Rich Foundation.
The cost of a week’s elementary school clothing is $66.50 and includes four polo shirts, two pairs of uniform pants, a six-pack of socks, a six-pack of underwear, a jacket, belt, personal hygiene kit, and shoe voucher. If an elementary child is homeless or a fire victim, the cost is $82 because a pair of jeans, one long sleeve and one short sleeve shirt are included. For homeless middle school students, the cost is $112 per student.
“It is so important for children to dress like their peers, especially when they get to middle school,” said Tobi Cohen, president of Assistance League of Atlanta. “Studies show children have higher self-esteem, get a better education, and avoid teasing and bullying if they have proper clothing essentials.” Operation School Bell, a signature, national program for Assistance League, has served over 4.3 million school children since it began in 1958 as a clothes closet in a California school.
