Operation School Bell^®

The organization continues to grow and has made inroads in meeting the needs of nearly 8,000 children living in poverty in Southern Utah.

The Washington County School District notes that nearly 1,000 of the nearly 30,000 students registered to attend school were homeless and in desperate need of basic clothing and supplies. These children and others living in low-income households are the target population for Operation School Bell.

Our focus is on Title 1 schools. These are the schools with large concentrations of low-income students which is determined by the number of students that are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program. There are eleven (11) Title 1 schools in Washington County. One (1) school is at 100% and goes down to 61% of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. There are also six (6) additional schools with more than 50% of their students who are on free or reduced lunch but do not qualify for Title 1. Thirty-six (36) schools in Southern Utah have participated in Assistance League’s Operation School Bell program in the past year.

Shopping Events

Low income school-aged children receive new clothes, shoes, hand-knitted hats, and dental supplies. When a child’s basic needs are met, they can focus on their education and have a better opportunity to break the cycle of poverty.

Last fiscal year, 897 children from 36 schools ranging across Southern Utah and Northern Arizona from St George, Ivins, Santa Clara, Beryl, Enterprise, Cedar City to Hildale, Colorado City & Beaver Dam received new school clothing and/or shoes, or school supplies.

Literacy

Operation School Bell focuses on enhancing literacy opportunities for children in need:

• Materials for summer reading and preschool literacy programs for 300 students;
• 510 children participated in rural reading programs;
• 12 members volunteered multiple times to work with the kids in the Optional Extended Kindergarten program;
• 356 books were donated to Beaver Dam Elementary