Give a Little in the Schools
We are committed to supporting students in Yamhill County who are from low-income families or experiencing homelessness.
Our program operates through volunteer liaisons in McMinnville area schools who work directly with school contact people —administrators, counselors, and teachers — responsible for identifying specific needs of individual students.
Note: These past months we have been reaching out to fulfill special needs for virtual learning from home, such as providing headphones to families who cannot afford them for their children and putting a mouse into the hands of small children not yet able to use a touch pad successfully.
Our program operates through volunteer liaisons in McMinnville area schools who work directly with school contact people —administrators, counselors, and teachers — responsible for identifying specific needs of individual students.
Note: These past months we have been reaching out to fulfill special needs for virtual learning from home, such as providing headphones to families who cannot afford them for their children and putting a mouse into the hands of small children not yet able to use a touch pad successfully.
We have in the past years regularly provided hundreds of pairs of shoes and socks, many winter jackets, other clothing, school supplies, holiday meals, eye glasses and dental care, hygiene supplies, lice kits, umbrellas, camp scholarships, pool passes (for physical therapy), and more. The racks here hold cleaned, gently used shoes ready to be given to children whose worn-out footwear needs replacement. Note: During school closures, we’re continuing with the above in cooperation with school staff who are disbursing needed items through direct outreach to families.
Pictured here, Nichelle Greene, Homeless Student Advocate at McMinnville High School, receives just a few of the hygiene kits we provide for homeless students. The cloth bags were sewn and donated by members of the Gone to Pieces Quilt Guild in McMinnville.
We also have a program that provides a yearly scholarship to attend Chemeketa Community College to a Yamhill County high school graduate who has struggled with homelessness. (The number of homeless students in Oregon has increased approximately 20% since 2014, currently making up an estimated 4% of all enrolled children and teens.) We have recently named our fifth Give a Little Homeless Student Scholarship to a young man who is studying at Chemeketa with the goal of becoming a nurse.
Note: Since March, we have been working more actively with Chemeketa, supplying food gift cards to students who have lost their part-time jobs or are otherwise in financial straits because of the pandemic. And we have paid (very reasonable) fees for 21 students to give them access to an entire semester of courses—including workshops, advising, and language labs—designed to strengthen their English skills and comprehension.
Note: Since March, we have been working more actively with Chemeketa, supplying food gift cards to students who have lost their part-time jobs or are otherwise in financial straits because of the pandemic. And we have paid (very reasonable) fees for 21 students to give them access to an entire semester of courses—including workshops, advising, and language labs—designed to strengthen their English skills and comprehension.
This scholarship isn't just an awarded amount of cash. In my eyes, it is my future. |