This year Hill has established a new fund to help with fundamentals.
There are families at Hill that haven’t ever had the luxury of strip steak at dinner. Some of them do not have stoves to cook on. Some of them do not have kitchens to cook in. Many of the middle schoolers that fill the Hill hallways in the morning grab a high five from teachers and a bagged breakfast have had nothing to eat since the school provided lunch yesterday. An alarming percent of our students are homeless. Significantly more than 50% of our students require government assistance to eat.
Food, Shelter, Clothes, Coats, School supplies, Transportation.
These are things a heartbreaking number of Hill families are worrying about right now as you read this letter. Hill has always helped these kids. We stretch our already paper thin budget to buy all students binders. Teachers take money out of their own pockets to buy bus passes for kids who have stayed after school for tutoring.
Still their basic needs aren’t met.
This year we are going to do more. We have established a Hill Cares committee made up of teachers, mental health staff, parents and City Year fellows to oversee our modest fund of $10,000. We are identifying events and programs, like our holiday baskets and coat drive that we already have in place and are putting them under the Hill Cares umbrella. Our popular coat drive is evolving into an even larger event called “Share the Warmth” where we will meet more needs for more families.
On November 8th from 5pm-7pm the Hill Cafeteria will be transformed into a place of caring where we can all share the warmth. Admission will be a pair of socks. Families can offer and receive assistance with winter clothes, bus passes, and school supplies. A gift tag wall will allow families to buy gifts for one another anonymously. Attendees can sign up to give or receive holiday baskets. It will all be celebrated with a community potluck.
We invite you to help us grow the VITAL Hill Cares Basic Needs Fund.