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A Community of Caring: Let Us Join
Hands and Lend Them to Those in Need
Kalamazoo Lend a Hand assesses the current need in K.R.E.S.A. school district's public schools
by monitoring the number of children participating in the free- and reduced-price lunch programs, and juxtaposing these numbers
with the current resources provided by Kalamazoo organizations in these schools. As Kalamazoo Lend a Hand identifies
gaps in service and increased need, it seeks to provide sufficient resources to give every child a chance to succeed.
Entering its second year, Kalamazoo Lend a Hand looks to expand its resource and service provision beyond elementary schools
to adequately meet the increasing need of both elementary and middle school students in K.R.E.S.A. public schools.
Beginning as a group of concerned residents, Kalamazoo Lend a Hand was incorporated July 3rd, 2008
and certified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization on October, 6th 2008, with the goal of expanding its activity in adequate
measure to ensure that the unmet needs in our public schools are addressed. Kalamazoo Lend a Hand began its work in
August 2008, providing a total of 325 backpacks and school supplies to economically disadvantaged children at six Kalamazoo
Public Schools (Greenwood Elementary, Woods Lake Elementary, Northeastern Elementary, Washington Writer’s Academy, Woodward
School, and Northglade Montessori School) with high percentages of children participating in the federal free- and reduced-price
lunch program that were not currently being served by other programs in the community. In addition, Kalamazoo Lend a
Hand distributed 300 pieces of winter clothing and 400 backpacks with school supplies during the Day of Dignity on September
13, 2008 at Martin Luther King Park, Kalamazoo.
This winter, Kalamazoo Lend a Hand continued to
identify under served children in our public schools, distributing 1412 hats, gloves, ear muffs, and headbands to five
Kalamazoo Public Schools (Greenwood Elementary, Woods Lake Elementary, Northeastern Elementary, Woodward Elementary for Technology
and Research, Northglade Montessori Elementary) and two Portage Public Schools (Haverhill Elementary and Central Elementary).
The Need
Basic supplies are essential for children to participate in the classroom and succeed in school. Moreover, educational
attainment directly correlates to the occurrence of poverty; of the 36% of Kalamazoo residents living in poverty, 53% did
not graduate from high school, and 39% never continued their education beyond a high school diploma1. The number of those in poverty drops to 10% for those who have had some college education2. Thus, providing supplies and services to
those in need in our elementary and middle schools not only increases their quality of life and lessens the burden on those
struggling families but also increases the ability of those children to succeed in school, which directly correlates to their
ability to achieve self-sufficiency as adults.
For 2008, in Kalamazoo Public Schools, 62% of all elementary and
middle school students participated in the federal free- and reduced-price lunch program, a benchmark indicator for identifying
families in need. In Comstock Public Schools 55% of students participate in the federal free- and reduced-price lunch
program, in Parchment Public Schools 33%, in Portage Public Schools 20%, in Galesburg-Augusta Public Schools 32%, and in Kalamazoo
Charter Schools 40%. Throughout the entire KRESA district, in 2008, 13,364 out of the 36,767 students were in need of
the free- and reduced-price lunch program. In 2008 that meant 13,364 elementary and middle school students with needs beyond
food provision, often going without needed winter clothing and essential school supplies. Kalamazoo
Lend a Hand believes that every child deserves a chance to succeed. By partnering with schools to provide these at-risk
students basic goods, Kalamazoo Lend a Hand involves our community in providing for those most in need.
1 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007 2
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007
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