When Operation School Bell commenced, a few hundred students piled into JCPenney overwhelmed with joy as they got to choose new school clothes for the school year on Sunday morning.
The Assistance League of Santa Clarita welcomed families as they walked into the department store, instructing them how the event was going to work. Each student is given an amount of money to spend on school-appropriate clothes.
This year 1,500 students will be referred to participate in Operation School Bell. This event helps students in need get school clothes and school items.
Seventeen-year-old Catalina Alamo and Kathleen Kvassay, a volunteer with Fostering Youth Independence, walked through the racks of clothing calculating how many new outfits they could make out of their selections.
“It’s amazing because you don’t realize how many people could use that extra little bit of help,” said Kvassay.
Alamo agreed that having an event like this was special to her and other students. She said it was nice to see the community help the kids who needed it.
Zephy Koby, 18, and Jackie Hartmann, a volunteer with FYI, said they were appreciative of the Assistance League’s hard year-round work to raise funds so they can put on this event every year.
“Operation School Bell is such a huge asset to this community,” said Hartmann. “What they’ve done and the money they’ve raised to be able to do this event, it’s obviously very successful and very much appreciated.”
Hartmann said it takes a village to do what the organization does, and it is wonderful to see firsthand how it positively affects the students here.
Melanie Cotterell, co-coordinator of the event, said the Assistance League was happy to be able to provide the service to the students and make them feel better about going to school. The idea is that with these new outfits it will help boost their self-esteem for the new school year, which plays a hand in them wanting to go to school and participate.
“We love it because some of our teachers or some of the social workers actually come to the event. They like to come in and see that their students came. They really like to encourage everyone that was referred to come,” said Cotterell.
The feedback they get shows how much of a difference it can make to a student. Some counselors have reported back that their students will come into their office and show off their new outfits, which they say is a precious moment to them.
Cotterell said the more people who come and shop at the Assistance League’s resale store on Bouquet Canyon Road, the more sale money they make to put toward Operation School Bell and the more students they can help out.
Operation School Bell will be carried out every Sunday in the early hours of the morning until Nov. 3.
