Ed
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4609
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"NEW
CLOTHES, NEW BEGINNINGS"
ANNUAL CLOTHING DISTRIBUTION JULY 11-15
2011
Back-to-School Clothing Drive
Story
and photos by Bette and Ed Sharpe Glendale Daily Planet
The
mission of the Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association is "to
provide new school outfits and uniforms, backpacks, and school supplies
to children in need."
It is that time of year again.
The sign outside Melvin E. Sine Elementary School tells it like
it is. In a few weeks it
will be August 1 and it will be back to school for the students in the
Glendale Elementary School District.
Many children are looking forward to school as are their parents.
However, the start of school means extra expenses for some
families having a difficult time just getting food on the table and
keeping a roof overhead. There
just are not dollars for shoes, notebooks, uniforms, etc.
Image if there are more than one child in the home.
Kids and parents feel the pressure and the strain can be
debilitating for both.
According
to a survey
completed by the National Retail Federation, the
average American
family will spend $606.40 on clothes, shoes, electronics and other
back-to-school items this year, up from the $548.72 budget in
2009.
http://www.mainstreet.com/article/smart-spending/school-supplies-cost-families-600-annually;
July 15, 2011.
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On Tuesday, July 12, fifty-three students form Melvin E. Sine
Elementary School, 4932 W. Myrtle Avenue in Glendale were a few of the
Glendale students doing some back-to-school "shopping" at the
44th Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association's clothing distribution.
This annual event was held at the ASU Preparatory Academy, Phoenix,
735 E. Fillmore Street. Glendale
students did the ride sharing thing.
They arrived by school bus. Tuesday,
July 12 was Wells Fargo Day. There
were many volunteers wearing Wells Fargo t-shirts.
Many of who have volunteered for the annual clothing distribution
for several years. Helping
kids get ready for school is a rewarding experience for everyone.
Each year, more than 25,000 children from more than 140 schools in
40 school districts throughout Arizona receive support.
This is thanks to the generosity of 2,500 volunteers, corporate
sponsors, individual donors, and foundation grants.
On June 9, 2011 Karl Gentles
, received
$10,000 in From the Heart funding from the Glendale program.
From the Heart allows Glendale residents the opportunity to donate
a $1.00 through their water bill.
The 2011 Distribution event is the week of July 11th-15 at ASU
Preparatory Academy in Phoenix. Over
the one-week period as many as 9,500 children benefit from the program
(5,000 directly at distribution, 3,000 through the BHHS Legacy Foundation
Backpack Buddies program, and 1,000 through local nonprofits/charities)
More than 2,500 volunteers will invest 12,500 man hours by the end
of the week! Over 130 schools
from 40 school districts will participate.
For more than a decade, BTS has helped Title I public elementary
schools purchase school uniforms for their clothing closets.
These closets provide clothing (or maybe a uniform) for children
who come to school without the appropriate attire.
Their school closet can then provide them the clothes they need for
school. The cool thing is the
kids get to keep the clothes.
Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association has another signature
program. The SAFE (Student Attire for Education) program is another way
students and families can meet some of the basic needs for children
appropriate clothing for school. SAFE
is a matching-grant program offered to elementary schools that meet Title
I standards and "shop" in our online store.
On a dollar-for-dollar match basis, SAFE offers schools grants up
to $2,500 to purchase items for their students.
This means that each participating school can double its buying
power (up to $5,000) to purchase school uniforms, clothes, and supplies
for their closets.
A group of 200 ladies, Stitches-of-Love, sew all year to
create clothes and accessories in preparation for our annual distribution.
They are the heart and soul of our organization.
This group hosts monthly workshops on how to sew items for the
program. Participants enjoy
the sewing and comradely the group provides.
The group got stated in 1967, a flood in the Salt River washed out
many of the migrant camps located in the river bed.
Founders Lucy Allen and Selma Shefler, supported by The Order of
True Sisters and other agencies, banded together with other women to raise
money to supply the children of the migrant families with back to school
clothes. They raised enough
resources in the first year to provide 871 children with clothes, thus
laying the foundation of the Back-to-School Clothing Drive.
Stitches-of-Love is often referred to as the “heart and soul”
of BTS (Back-to-School). Thanks
to their efforts, kids can dress like other kids.
Interested parents or guardians
need to register in advance through their child's school to participate.
More information can be found at the Back-to-School web site.
http://www.backtoschoolclothingdrive.com/
The Back-to-School Clothing Drive
Association welcomes volunteers and donations.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 95.
Mickey
Lund, West USA Reality, is well known in Glendale.
Mickey in on the Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association Board as
a Member-at-Large
Ed Sharpe/ Glendale Daily Planet Photo/
From the Heart Presentation http://www.glendaledailyplanet.com/from_the_heart_2011.htm
Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs and
Karl Gentles Executive Director of the Back to
School Clothing Drive Association. Karl's group received $10,000,
The
Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association, was one of 18 organizations
that received funding from the Glendale From the Heart program on June 9,
2001. Karl Gentles is the
association's Executive Director. The
few photographs shown on these pages hopefully illustrate that the From
the Heart monies are definitely being put to good use.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 94.
Wade Comeaux, a four year volunteer veteran, and
young Bryan Torres are ready to "shop".
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|
Bette
no. Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 105.
Assistant
Dave Sandoval measures Melvin E. Sine student Bryan Torres for a new
back to school shirt. Students
are excited about getting new clothes for school.
School starts for Melvin E. Sine students August 1.
That is just three weeks from now. |
Bette
Sharpe Glendale Daily Planet no. File 97.
Pamela
Nelson, Melvin E. Sine Elementary, picks out a new shirt. The dark blue
one did not make her cut. She
went with the two red shirts. Wendy
Workman,Wells Fargo, helps Pamela with sizing.
Pamela was one of the 53 students from Melvin E. Sine Elementary
School who were getting ready for the big day.
School starts for the Glendale Elementary School District student
on August 1. That's just
three weeks from now.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 98.
Pamela
selects the red shirts over the blue ones!
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 111.
Kelly
Jarvis, Boys Team Charity (Camelback) assist Pamela Nelson with her shoe
selection.
Ed
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 168.
Kayla
Gledstone, Emily Sulka and Marie Brennan, Executive Directory,Deer Valley
Education Foundation, are the first table for all students--the
registration table. Kayla and
Emily wrote the student's first name on their new bags.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 131.
These
new shoes didn't stay in their box for long.
They went directly on to the young girl's feet.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File. 115.
Shhh!
Melvin E. Sine Elementary School Student is reading; boys and dinosaur
books, ageless.
Students
gather and wait for a few students to finish their "shopping".
This student made good use of his time by reading.
In addition to shirts, shoes, socks, students could also select
a book
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 114.
Melvin
E. Sine student catches up on some reading while waiting to go out to the
buses and home.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 137.
As
any shopper knows, picking out clothes is fun, but it is tiring.
Time to get back on the bus to go home.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. File 117
This
looks like a lot of backpacks and it is; but so is the need.
During the week of July 11-15 the Back to School Clothing Drive
will see 5,800 students from the Phoenix area.
This year's need is greater than last year's.
Students get new threads at annual Back to School Clothing Drive
By
BETTE SHARPE, Special to The Glendale Star
Photo by Bette Sharpe, Glendale Daily Planet
School
digs
Pamela Nelson, Melvin E. Sine Elementary, picks out a new shirt. The
dark blue one did not make her cut. She went with the two red shirts.
Wells Fargo volunteer Wendy Workman helps Pamela with sizing.
It is that time of year again. In a few weeks, it will be Aug. 1 and it
will be back to school for students in Glendale Elementary School
District. Many children are looking forward to school as are their
parents.
However, the start of school means extra expenses for some families
having a difficult time just getting food on the table and keeping a roof
overhead. There just are not dollars for shoes, notebooks, uniforms, etc.
Imagine if there is more than one child in the home. Kids and parents feel
the pressure and the strain can be debilitating for both.
Fifty-three students form Melvin E. Sine Elementary School, 4932 W.
Myrtle Ave., were a few of the Glendale students doing some back-to-school
"shopping" July 12 at the 44th Back-to-School Clothing Drive
Association's clothing distribution. The annual event was held at ASU
Preparatory Academy, 735 E. Fillmore St. in Phoenix.
Glendale students arrived by school bus. It was Wells Fargo Day. There
were many volunteers wearing Wells Fargo T-shirts. Many of them have
volunteered several years for the annual clothing distribution.
Each year, more than 25,000 children from more than 140 schools in 40
school districts throughout Arizona receive support. This is thanks to the
generosity of 2,500 volunteers, corporate sponsors, individual donors, and
foundation grants.
Karl Gentles received $10,000 June 9 in From the Heart funding from the
Glendale program. From the Heart allows Glendale residents the opportunity
to donate $1 through their water bill.
The 2011 back-to-school clothing distribution event was the week of
July 11 to 15. Over the one-week period, as many as 9,500 children
benefited from the program (5,000 directly at distribution, 3,000 through
the BHHS Legacy Foundation Backpack Buddies program, and 1,000 through
local nonprofits/charities) More than 2,500 volunteers invested 12,500
manhours by the end of the week.
For more than a decade, Back to School has helped Title I public
elementary schools purchase school uniforms for their clothing closets.
The closets provide clothing (or maybe a uniform) for children who come to
school without the appropriate attire. Their school closet can then
provide them the clothes they need for school. The cool thing is the kids
get to keep the clothes.
Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association has another signature
program. The SAFE (Student Attire for Education) program is another way
students and families can meet some of the basic needs for
children-appropriate clothing for school. SAFE is a matching-grant program
offered to elementary schools that meet Title I standards and
"shop" in the online store. On a dollar-for-dollar match basis,
SAFE offers schools grants up to $2,500 to purchase items for their
students. This means that each participating school can double its buying
power (up to $5,000) to purchase school uniforms, clothes, and supplies
for their closets.
A group of 200 ladies, Stitches-of-Love, sew all year to create clothes
and accessories in preparation for the Back to School annual distribution.
They are the heart and soul of our organization. The group hosts monthly
workshops on how to sew items for the program. Participants enjoy the
sewing and camaraderie the group provides.
The group stated in 1967 after a flood in the Salt River washed out
many of the migrant camps located in the river bed. Founders Lucy Allen
and Selma Shefler, supported by The Order of True Sisters and other
agencies, banded together with other women to raise money to supply the
children of the migrant families with back-to-school clothes. They raised
enough resources in the first year to provide 871 children with clothes,
thus laying the foundation of the Back-to-School Clothing Drive.
Stitches-of-Love is often referred to as the "heart and soul" of
BTS (Back-to-School). Thanks to their efforts, kids can dress like other
kids.
For more information, visit www.backtoschoolclothingdrive.com/
The Back-to-School Clothing Drive Association welcomes volunteers and
donations.
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