In January, Starlight’s education and outreach team members donated 740 brand-new youth T-shirts and sweatshirts to the children served by Operation Breakthrough. They also delivered 325 T-shirts to counselors’ offices at eight schools in the Kansas City, Kan., school district and more than 150 shirts to the Raytown, Mo., School District central office.
With its mission to provide a safe, loving and educational environment for children in poverty, Operation Breakthrough cares for more than 400 preschool children each weekday. “Our teachers were super excited to receive the shirts and plan to have students wear them on field trips, making it easier to keep everyone in sight,” said associate development director Jennifer Howe Heinemann. “We also gave other shirts, including those awesome sweatshirts, to children to take home, and their parents are thrilled.”
In Kansas City, Kan., Hazel Grove Elementary School counselor Sarah Burr was excited to get the offer from Starlight and quickly reached out to gauge interest from other counselors districtwide. Now the clothes closets at four elementary, two middle and two high schools are newly stocked with bright-colored Starlight attire. And in Raytown, the donated shirts will be used as prizes at the school district’s annual resource fair in April.
All of us at Starlight are proud to have donated clothing that Operation Breakthrough, KCK and Raytown children can wear during the school day, as well as on field trips and other outings. Starlight shirts in nearly every color of the rainbow will surely make these Kansas City kids shine even brighter!
