With their annual Chef Showdown and Halloween Party events, The Woodlands Charities, Inc. raised more than $20,000 last year to benefit Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands’ family fund, which is set up to help the families of children fighting cancer. This year, officials with the group selected a new charity to donate to.
Directors Amy Milstead, Nina Marino and James Stilwell, who lead The Woodlands Charities, Inc., chose to give to a specific program sponsored by Assistance League of Montgomery County: Operation School Bell®.
Operation School Bell identifies economically disadvantaged children within the county whose families may not be able to buy them new school clothes and then sets them up with a shopping spree.
When officials with Assistance League presented the program to The Woodlands Charities directors, Milstead said it was an easy choice to select this initiative.
“How can you not have a heart for children who don’t have clothes to go to school?” Milstead said.
The league’s president, Carolyn Jones, said that while this program is nationwide, she’s seen a great impact locally within the county.
“We take all of the economically disadvantaged children in each school and try to serve 11 percent of those students,” Jones said. “We tell each school what their allotment is, depending on their population, and the school counselor chooses students who are entitled to go to the dressings.”
Once they’re identified, the high school students receive $125 to shop, and younger children receive $95 to use at the store. As an added bonus, they get to shop at places like JCPenney and Burlington Coat Factory and buy items tax-free.
With The Woodlands Charities donation this year, that means the league could help upwards of 200 extra kids.
Assistance League of Montgomery County started the program in the county when they provided clothes for more than 30 children about 30 years ago. Now, all six Montgomery County school districts are served and more than 4,000 children receive funds for new clothes each year.
Because of its scope, the district with the most students served each year is the Conroe Independent School District.
Denise Cipolla, CISD’s administrative coordinator of guidance and counseling, said that the program is a tremendous support for students in all grades.
“Many of our families never get the opportunity to shop from a retail store. They depend on secondhand and resale shop clothing, so this is a spectacular service for our families in need,” Cipolla said, highlighting that the chance to buy brand-new clothes resonates with the families in need.
CISD Trustee John Husbands has also gotten a glimpse of how this program impacts the students. He has served on the league’s advisory council for several years and said Operation School Bell is about more than just new clothes.
“If (a child) isn’t dressed, if they’re not fed, they can’t learn. To think about a child, in a non-embarrassing way being donated clothes so he or she can go to school and feel good about themselves, it’s helping immensely to build a child’s overall self-worth,” Husbands said.
The selected elementary and junior high students receive their new clothes in the fall, but the selected high school students get to go shopping around this time of year. The Woodlands Charities normally has their Chef Showdown fundraiser in May and their Halloween Party in October.
