MONTGOMERY, Pa. — Bins of clothing and hygiene products sit inside the Montgomery Elementary School in Montgomery. The Lycoming County United Way has been working on having a "Kidz Klozet" in the school district for a few months. It's a place where kids can shop for free to help have a successful school year.
"Then we started to collaborate with the school nurse, with Heather here in Montgomery, started to order some of the supplies and get the closet stocked up and ready to go with the hope that we can continue to build it during the summer. When the kids come back in the fall, they'll be ready to go at it," said Ron Frick, Lycoming County United Way president.
The Montgomery Amazon is one of the sponsors for the Kidz Klozet. The Lycoming County United Way applied for a grant through Amazon and received $1,500 to start the closet.
"We talked to a couple of other companies in the community who've expressed an interest, haven't really formally committed yet but expressed an interest in helping to support it. So, in every school, the goal is to have the community support the community," said Frick.
The Lycoming County United Way would like to have a Kidz Klozet in nine of the county's school districts. According to the ALICE Program of Pennsylvania, 41 percent of families in Lycoming County are struggling to make ends meet.
"One of our mottos here at Montgomery is 'whatever it takes.' And this kids closet program helps align with that philosophy, and we're hoping that by kids not worrying about where their clothing is coming from or basic needs, they're more likely to have better self-esteem, want to come to school, want to learn and have greater academic success overall," said Heather Walton, Montgomery Area School District nurse.
Walton says the Kidz Klozet is going to focus more on elementary students since they're less likely to get the things they need on their own. Clothing in the Kidz Klozet will range from toddlers to adult sizes. The program will offer hygiene products and other items as well.
"There's hair brushes, there's hair bands, the Bomba socks are huge—a lot of times you'd be surprised. Kids take their shoes off; they don't have socks on. And now their shoes have odor from that, it's just amazing what a few items can do to make difference."
The Lycoming County United Way is working on an Amazon Wish List where people can purchase items and have them sent to the Montgomery Area School District to be donated to the Kidz Klozet.