Church program clothes 1,500 kids yearly for back to school
Aug. 24, 2006 News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh * (615) 742-5458* Nashville {507}
NOTE: Photographs and a UMTV report are available with this story at http://umns.umc.org.
By John Gordon*
OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) - April McCrory felt a squeeze in the family budget, faced with high gasoline prices and three sons about to start a new school year and needing clothes.
But thanks to Skyline Urban Ministry and contributions from United Methodist churches, her boys are sporting new back-to-school outfits.
"It's very important. You know, you want to look nice," McCrory said.
Her 13-year-old son, James, agreed.
"I won't get made fun of because I have shoes and old stuff that doesn't fit me that good," he said.
Skyline's Clothes for Kids program started 31 years ago, helping one child from a neighborhood school. Now, the program gives free clothes - worth more than $100,000 - each year to about 1,500 children.
"This year was kind of tough, so we weren't going to be able to buy any school clothes," said Alicia Escamilla, who brought her 6- and 9-year-old daughters to pick out new clothes.
"So this was going to be the only school clothes that the girls got."
Addressing poverty
A large room in a Skyline community center is converted into a store - minus price tags and cash registers - just before the school year begins. Jeans and slacks are stacked high, and racks are filled with popular brands of shirts. The program even offers the correct colors for schools that require uniforms.
Volunteers from area churches walk children through the maze of shelves and help them pick the clothes they like.
"One little boy said, 'I've never had pants that feels this rough before' because they were new and they were a little bit stiff," said Imogene Bates, Skyline's assistant director who started the school-clothing program. "And I said, 'Well, you know, they're brand new.' And he said, 'I've never had new ones before.'"
Each child gets to choose two new outfits, shoes, socks and underwear. Every youngster also receives a personal hygiene kit that includes toothpaste, a new toothbrush and a washcloth.
"We're about treating the symptoms and addressing the causes of poverty," said the Rev. Dale Tremper, executive director of Skyline Urban Ministry. "Some of the causes of poverty are spiritual, and some of them are certainly educational."
Bates said new clothes mean more than making a good appearance.
"When they go back with their new clothes on, their head's held high and they're smiling and glad to be at school," she said. "And it helps them in their school work."
For Latocha Turner, Clothes for Kids proved to be a big help as she brought her three children to shop.
"It helps good because I've recently lost my job, I needed help, and it's real helpful for those who need," she said.
Building self-esteem
One of the program's volunteers, Thomasena Allen, works as a schoolteacher and is a member of Quayle United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. This was her third year to lend a hand to the ministry.
"It really helps to build a child's self-esteem, or your student's self-esteem, if they at least have good school clothes at the beginning of the year so they can fit in with the rest of their classmates," Allen said.
"Unfortunately, it is a sad fact that people do value one another based on how they look and how they dress, instead of who they are as a person," she said.
Skyline also operates a year-round Clothes Closet offering used clothing for adults. In addition, a Community Cupboard food bank served more than 13,000 people last year, and Skyline sponsors a charity eye clinic, meals for seniors and a Christmas-gifts drive.
Despite all the work involved in gathering donations for Clothes for Kids, lining up volunteers and getting referrals for needy families, program director Bates believes she has the "best job in the world" - with unmatched benefits.
"I absolutely love my job," she said. "One day I came to work, and within the first hour and a half I got 39 hugs."
*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas.
News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org