Schools

New Clothes for School for Those Who Need it Most

Milpitas Kiwanis and Kohl's Cares for Kids teamed up to outfit 75 local elementary students with limited resources headed back to school this fall.

About 75 students at Milpitas elementary schools woke up early Sunday morning for a shopping spree at  where they walked out with $140 worth of clothes for school.

For the third year in a row, the  worked in partnership with the department store to put on the Kohl's Cares for Kids event. Kiwanis members arrived to set up tables at 6 a.m. for registration and for refreshments.

The students, from families with limited resources, had been nominated by principals at each of the elementary schools in the .

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MUSD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Cheryl Jordan volunteered as a chaperone on Sunday morning before the store opened to the public. So did Milpitas Kiwanis members, about 100 Milpitas High Key Club members, as well as a number of police officers, firefighters and community members.

"Are you a policeman? I thought you looked kind of familiar," said one little girl to her chaperone Lt. Henry Kwong, who was out of uniform that Sunday morning.

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Chaperones accompany the students into the store, while the parents stay outside to avoid any conflict of interest. Parents send them in with a form with clothing sizes and a wish list, but the children ultimately pick out their own clothes, shoes and accessories.

"It's kind of nerve wracking that someone else has my kid," said one mom, of her 11-year-old daughter. "She's still my baby," she said.

One little boy cried.

"They said, 'We need someone that speaks Spanish', and I said, 'OK, I'm there'." That's how Milpitas Kiwanis President Becky Strauss, who is Nicaraguan, was paired with her student. 

Henry Fischer's 10-year-old son came out with some no-frills purchases, a few pairs of pants and some solid color tops from the school uniform section. Fisher's 11-year-old daughter was still inside the store.

"I kind of figure she's going to take a while," he said, but didn't seem to mind.

"Every year it works out great," he said. 

Milpitas Kiwanis had made it a goal to raise $10,000 for 100 kids for this event. There are always some no-shows, said Dennis Knight, who coordinates the annual event with his wife Lonnie for the Milpitas Kiwanis.

If the board approves, the remaining funds could go towards a winter shopping spree during the holidays, said Knight. The  would select the participating students, possibly about 25 this year.

In addition, Kohl's has a promotion where they give customers $10 in "Kohl's cash" for every $50 spent. Those store certificates will go directly to the food pantry as well, he said.

This year, Kohl's at the Great Mall, gave 20 percent off for purchases for the students. In addition, the store had a promotion that day to pay sales tax for all customers, said Dennis Knight. A $100 per kid budget was stretched to $140. 

In the last two days, Nancy Mendizabal said she picked up a combined total of $1,800 from the Milpitas Police Officer Association, firefighters' union and a personal check from C.J. Rich, a member of the Milpitas Rotary Club. (See list of sponsors in the photos.) 

"The nice thing about the Kiwanis Club is that all the money goes back to the children," Mendizabal said about the fundraising the club generated from the and the .

Elementary student Anima was wearing a pink shirt on Sunday morning. One of her purchases was a pair of pink light up sneakers, Twinkle Toes by Sketchers in a size 12.

Her chaperone, Paramedic Geoff Maloon, doesn't usually get to shop for girls. He is the father of two young boys. 

"It's kind of fun, I have to tell you," he said, sorting through a rack of girls' clothes.

It seemed mutual. Afterwards, Anima got to go onboard the fire engine and sit in the driver's seat.


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