On a chilly early December day a little boy showed up at McKinley Elementary in need of a coat. THE CLOSETS also serve the purpose of providing emergency clothing.
In days gone by a staff member might have dashed downtown and found a wrap at a reasonable cost. Today, however, the school’s Rotary Closet had a coat just the tyke’s size.
“His eyes were filed with tears,” said Jaime Westervelt. “He never had had a new coat before.”
That is among a growing number of success stories because of the Rotary Closet project, where a child can be clothed from head to foot at no expense to the student’s family.
McKinley was the first to have closet outfitted soon after Thanksgiving and just in time to help the little boy. Since then closets have opened at Lincoln and Jefferson schools. Iola Middle School also is on Rotary’s radar.
The closet idea came from a presentation given local Rotarians by a Chanute member, where a similar project has been in place for several years.
Embracing the concept also required raising funds to put new clothes, shoes and coats into the proposed closets.
Last July’s Rotary barbecue cook-off and car show in conjunction with Allen County Fair generated $1,000, which Rotary International matched two-to-one. Next came a $1,000 contribution from Walmart Foundation.
Westervelt, chairman of the closet committee, went on a buying spree.
Judy McIntosh, Lincoln counselor, pointed out occasionally students have accidents and afterward fresh clothing is in order. It may be a shirt, pants and even underwear.
First approach is to contact parents, but it isn’t unusual for working parents to be unavailable. That’s when the closet becomes a godsend.
“Even a bloody nose can require a change of clothes. No kid wants to go around with blood on his shirt or pants,” McIntosh said.
Clothing also is made available to students without, such as the boy at McKinley School.
In the past McIntosh has used discretionary funds from her office budget to purchase used shoes, “which I took home, washed and put in new shoe laces,” McIntosh said. Now, she can draw on closet stock.
How about donations to keep the closets full?
“We intend to keep it all new clothes and shoes,” Westervelt said, although monetary contributions would be gladly accepted.
“The concern with taking in used clothing, even if it is in good shape, is that it could lead to bullying,” she explained. “If a boy comes to school wearing a shirt that belonged to another boy in his class, he might hear, ‘Hey, you’re wearing my old shirt.’ We don’t want that.”
Rotarians will do fundraising to maintain the closets, though none specifically is scheduled at this time. “We’ll let people know,” Westervelt said.
Rotarians step in to help elementary children
