Zoey, from left, Ariel and her brother, Eved, and Ethan show the new shoes, jackets, gloves and other clothes they received through Operation School Bell in Snohomish County
Want to see kids grin? Face-splitting, pure-joy grins?
Buy them new shoes. And pants. And a jacket. And, because no one should have to share, a toothbrush.
Buy them underwear and socks, which everyone needs, because it is a blushing offense, in a kid’s world, to pull off a shoe at a friend’s house and have your big toe sticking out of your sock.
That is embarrassing, in a kid’s world, and kids will do sundry crazy things to avoid having their toes popping out of their socks, like pulling the sock just a little bit off their foot and tucking the toe inside; like not wearing socks; like, worse, not going to their friend’s house and coming up with all kinds of fake reasons they don’t want to.
The people at Operation School Bell® know this. The Snohomish County chapter of the program, established in the 1960s and run by Assistance League of Everett, provides clothes and hygiene necessities to about 3,000 kids in 15 school districts across the county.
Over the years, Operation School Bell has established national resources and honed its efficiency — now, it can give a kid a wardrobe worth about $250 for roughly $100, according to Assistance League of Everett.
The league secures the new clothes with donations — both money and new, tags-on clothes — as well as proceeds from its thrift shop and an annual dinner and auction fundraiser.
Operation School Bell has a second program, Retail Teen, that invites high school students to a local clothing store during special hours. Teens get a certain amount to spend, and volunteers are on hand to assist them in picking clothes and sizes.
This year, Operation School Bell and local coordinator Eva Bryce, as well as other volunteers, helped 292 kids from Stanwood-Camano School District.
First, school staff recommends students for the program. Once students are identified, the school sends home permission slips. Then Bryce and a driver pick up a group of kids in vans they borrow from Josephine Caring Community, drive to Operation School Bell’s facility, and let the kids pick out a complete wardrobe of new clothes with the help of a personal assistant.
Last week, Bryce brought a group of elementary school students to choose clothes.
They came back loaded down with jackets, pants, shirts, gloves, shoes and hats. And huge grins.
One of the girls from that group will enter middle school next year. And you know what every middle-schooler should not have to worry about: Socks.
For more information or to donate, visit assistanceleagueofeverett.org or call 425-252-3011.
