VISTA — Members of the Assistance League of North Coast discovered there are more than 2500 students in Vista who are designated as homeless.
These students, due to no fault of their own, find themselves living in shelters, cars, foster care, homes of friends or relatives with very few personal items including limited clothing.
Since teens grow rapidly and clothing size changes regularly, it is difficult for these students to have clothes that make them feel as if they are ready to face the world of school.
Assisting ALNC with identification and contacting the teens was Vista Unified School District representative Perla Lira. Assistance League of North Coast is dedicated to serving the needs, primarily of children, in the communities of Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista, with the goal of providing a positive starting point for academic success. Through grant dollars provided by the Howard Foundation, ALNC collaborated with Kohl’s department store to arrange for 100 teenaged students accompanied by their parents to receive a voucher for $100 to be used for school appropriate clothing.
On hand were ALNC volunteers led by chairperson Marilyn Stoke to assist in the shopping and purchasing of these new clothes. Kohl’s provided five employee volunteers to help with the selections and checking out at designated registers. Kohls generously provided a discount to the purchases as well as rebates to be received later for a new group of students to begin their shopping.
If you are interested in learning more about this program or about becoming a volunteer with ALNC, visit HYPERLINK “http://www.alnc.org”alnc.org.
