Next Dor St. Louis

On Saturday July 24, 2010, the National Council of Jewish Women held the 10th annual Backto School! Store at CRC. 


The Back to School! Store is an event that allows underprivileged kids to pick out essential items with the assistance of a personal shopper. The items are all donated and each child receives tennis shoes, socks, a winter coat, underwear, a hat, gloves, a backpack, school supplies, personal care items and a book. The children also have free eye screenings and dental hygiene information available to them. A family resource room is also available and connects the families with local community organizations which can meet many of
their needs.


The event relies heavily on volunteers to operate, and this year a group from the Next Dor community came and donated their time to the cause. 
 
“Back to School! Store is one of those programs that simply wouldn’t exist without volunteers," said Karen Goodman, one of the planners for the event. 

"Each year we have about 50 volunteers on the steering committee who work all year long to pull together this massive one day event. But it’s the volunteers who show up on the last Sunday in July to help the kids in the store who really make the store come alive. Most of us who volunteer really can’t imagine what it would be like to be 6 years old and to show up on the first day of school without a backpack, new tennis shoes and everything that was listed on the school supply list. But for the kids invited to shop at BTSS, it’s a fact of life. These kids are embarrassed about their old shoes, hand me down clothes and that their parents simply can’t afford to buy them the things they need for school. It’s no surprise that the first day of school isn’t something to get excited
about for these kids. BTSS doesn’t just give the kids a few things so that their families don’t have to buy it for them. BTSS volunteers get a chance to look a child in the eye and help them get excited about school. Little boys growing up in homes without positive male role models get to have a guy tell them it’s cool to get excited about school. Little girls get to pick out the sparkly outfit that their mom’s might pass over as not so practical.” 


The group of volunteers, organized by David Elias, managed to provide volunteers for all three shifts and signals the the beginning of what we hope to be many community service oriented projects for Next Dor.