Operation School Bell® Clothes for Kids

Operation School Bell Clothes for Kids partners with Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Richfield Public Schools to provide new school clothing to economically disadvantaged school children. The goal of this program is to help the children feel better about themselves and to remove the stress and worry associated with not having appropriate school clothing. When asked about observable changes in students receiving new clothing, 80% of teachers surveyed said they’ve observed a positive change in student confidence and 70% of teachers reported improvement in the students’ level of engagement with peers and/or school activities. During the 2020-21 school year, over 1400 students received school clothing despite challenges presented by the pandemic. Typically, this program serves more than 3000 students each year. A supplemental program, Clothes for Kids Plus, provides ancillary clothing and hygiene supplies to our partner schools to be distributed as needed.

Families are really appreciative of the uniform support as this is just another cost that sometimes they cannot afford.

-Sheridan Social Worker

This uniform program helps with consistency and provides the student structure and being part of a community.

-Nellie Stone 5th grade teacher

Operation School Bell® Start Smart

The Operation School Bell Start Smart program provides students with essential items that promote school success in the classroom. Items have included clothing, hygiene products, school supplies among other needs our partner schools identify. During 2020-2021, Assistance League was able to fill critical needs identified by our school partners in a timely manner through this program. As a result, thousands of students in Minneapolis, Richfield and St. Paul schools received needed items such as winter coats, snow pants, gloves, earphones, books, headsets and other items to support distance learning. In response to the impact of this program, we heard, “We have had many families this year encounter homelessness, domestic violence shelters (causing them to leave home without anything), flooding in the home and other transitions. We have been very grateful for the supplies.”