Merriam charity takes old clothes, books to care for local children in poverty
MERRIAM, Kan. (KCTV) - Think about those sub-zero temperatures we just went through, and imagine your kids not having any warm clothes or food to eat. That’s the case for hundreds of Kansas City children but in times like these Hands to Hearts works to close that gap and even help with their schooling. That’s why they’re KCTV’s March 3 Degree Guarantee recipient.
Clothes that used to hang in a closet are now going to keep kids in Kansas City warm.
“There are kids with no socks, just sneakers in the snow,” Hands to Hearts Secretary Steve Schanker recalled while visiting schools. “There are kids that have accidents at the school, and they have no clothes to replace and go hope in.”
Every month, Steve Schanker and his team count on people to send in unused clothes for kids in Elementary through Middle School. Their biggest demand comes from the Kansas City Kansas School District.
In a statement to KCTV, the district said “H2H serves 11 of our school buildings, helping about 340 students weekly.”
“The most general needs that need to be fulfilled would be socks, underwear, sweatshirts, sweatpants,” Schanker listed. “Any kind of pants with adjustable waistbands due to different sizes of children.”
Once they know kids are clothed, Hands to Hearts doesn’t stop, spending every Monday night packing up to 300 snack bags or “back snacks” as they’re referred to for children stuck in poverty.
“One bag of food is supposed to be one bag of food for the weekend,” Hands to Hearts President Amanda Jahnke explained. “We have families with a lot of kids that don’t have food at home, even their families don’t have food at home. So, they’re taking that food home and that’s all the family has to eat for the weekend.”
Jessica Smith with KCK Public Schools added, “As far as back snacks, the school staff state it’s a great impact. Families often have a job loss, one income household, even when parents are working, they need assistance. Families are extremely grateful.”
Hands to Hearts also found book ownership is extremely low for kids in Kansas City’s low-income neighborhoods. So, for every book donated to their free bookfair, another child is put on a new path to success in reading and learning.
“They’re not reading at the same grade level they were the previous year which is awesome for us to see,” Jahnke said on progress. “It’s great to see their reading level has risen where they can take pride in reading those better books.”
This month, when the First Warn 5 Weather Team calls the forecast right or within 3 degrees of the correct forecast, we’ll donate up to $1550 this March for Hands to Heart to reach more children. You too can be part of this generosity by clicking here to donate.
“When we have the money we buy new clothes for the kids and that’s the best,” Schanker said.
“There are things that we do have to buy like the Spanish-speaking books,” Jahnke added. “It would definitely be great to buy more of those books.”
This work comes in real handy around the holidays. Jessica Smith of KCK Public Schools said, “For me specifically, Hands to Heart assists with Holidays every year, it is amazing! They help around 100 families, which is about 300 students. And this is just for the Holiday season. We are working closely with H2H to increase that number.”
Click here to learn how you can donate the right clothes and be part of their cause.
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