Darting through the crowded aisles of J.C. Penney, ZyNeah Watt made a beeline for the sequined shirts. The 6-year-old had reluctantly bypassed the toy section; drafting a Christmas list would have to wait.
Thanks to Operation School Bell, the primary philanthropic program of the Assistance League of Omaha, ZyNeah and her two siblings were able to get shiny — in ZyNeah’s case — new clothes.
Operation School Bell expects to serve 4,000 students this year in kindergarten through eighth grade. When it began in 1976 the program served 100 students. Since then it has given clothes to nearly 60,000 children — it’s on track to reach that milestone next week.
Some kids come with parents. Some are brought by a school guidance counselor or teacher.
The program leads to increased confidence and better behavior, peer relationships and school attendance, said Suzanne Hinman with the Assistance League.
“It’s just heartwarming to see how excited they get to go to school the next day with a new outfit,” Hinman said. “We bring so many kids in here, but even so, we are only meeting about 10 percent of the need,” she said.
ZyNeah’s mother, Nakeya Wraggs, said that while chasing her three kids through the store can become a little exhausting, the program has helped her family. In March, Wraggs said a relative she was living with threw out her kids’ clothes.
Wraggs’ son, Zakylan Watson, 10, wasn’t as excited about the new clothes as his two sisters were, but he enjoyed picking out a Batman shirt, a pair of sweatpants and a pair of red jeans perfect for a Husker gameday.
His sister JNighiay Booth, 7, said she thinks her friends at school will like her new outfit: a blue shirt paired with blue tie-dyed leggings. “I hope they say ‘Hey, great clothes’ to me,” she said, looking in her bag as she waited to check out.
“They aren’t going to let me hang these up in the closet,” Wraggs said. “They will be wearing them right away.”
