Athens kids dress in new clothes

by Amanda Iacone
Staff Writer

Some Athens children will dress in style when they receive new clothing from Head Start later this week.

Through a national organization called Kids in Distressed Situations, preschool-age children will get new clothes and shoes from more than 600 national retail companies, including Toys R Us and Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Head Start programs throughout Southeast Ohio picked up the clothing in mid-January to distribute it to KIDS.

The service agency piggybacks off existing community agencies to help children in need. Most KIDS programs are run in metropolitan areas because existing equipment such as trucks and warehouses make distribution easier, said Leslie Lily, president and CEO of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.

Cleveland runs a successful KIDS program, the president of which asked Lily if Appalachian Ohio could handle such an operation, Lily said.

"We were quite sure that this was doable - we can absolutely do this in a rural community, and Appalachian Ohio can show you how," Lily said.

The first shipment in late December included clothing not only for Head Start students but for their siblings, as well. But not every family received clothing because there were limited shipments, Head Start Director Chris DeLamatre said.

Head Start looked at what sizes they received and what families could use those sizes to decide who would get the donated goods, DeLamatre said.

Athens Head Start will give about 10 families new spring and summer clothing. Some families also might receive new shoes, said Ruby Kilkenney, site manager for both Athens and Amesville Head Start.

The Coalition of Appalachian Development helps manage the KIDS program by contacting community action organizations. Fourteen different agencies from Ohio and Appalachia participated by passing out this shipment of clothes.

Head Start programs and Family First programs will identify families in need of clothes, said Dick Stevens, division director of food and nutrition programs for the Athens, Hocking and Perry Community Action.

KIDS is unique because most programs offer used, not new clothing, said Stevens, who runs the Southeastern Ohio Regional Food Center in Logan.

"In the past we've been very happy to find good, used clothing," he said.

Stevens offered his warehouse to store the shipment until local agencies could pick up their portion of it. An average shipment could value more than $1,000,000, Stevens said.

"That gives you an idea of what it would cost families to go out and buy the clothes," Stevens said.

But the clothing includes stylish name brands such as OshKosh B'Gosh. Parents are happy with new clothing, and the kids think the clothes are cool, Kilkenney said.

"Size-wise, (the shipment) seems to be right on target with being usable for our current clientele," she said.