LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Little Bit Foundation

by Jenny Fisher
Ladue News, Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT

Kids call them “The Little Bit Ladies” and high-five them in the hallways. They work out of a 526-square-foot athletic closet generously donated by Christian Brothers College High School. And they serve 3,000 kids a year at 12 St. Louis City schools, providing coats, shoes, clothes that fit and the opportunity for kids to focus on school, not on what they’re wearing, or on what they lack.

    Elise Tierney and Rosemary Hanley say the Little Bit Foundation all started because they were soccer moms together. Now co-executive directors of the nonprofit, both had sons at Christian Brothers College and were inspired by a coat drive the boys’ team worked on with St. Patrick Center. The drive, however, morphed into something bigger, since Tierney and Hanley continued working with local parishes and the Salvation Army long after it was over.

    The Little Bit Foundation was born in December 2001, when a teacher from Woerner Elementary School gave them a call and said she had kids coming to school without coats. “Their arms are blue,” the teacher said. Tierney and Hanley gathered their winter-wear stock and put coats on kids all day, distributing about 170 coats at the school of 250.

    “Something so simple as a coat drive kept introducing us to more need,” Tierney says. “We had no idea what some of the children we’re seeing were facing.”

    Now, the Little Bit Foundation has set up ‘boutiques’ in 12 St. Louis City schools at which 90 percent or more of the students receive free or reduced lunch, and Hanley reports that the majority of schools have about 96 or 98 percent subsidized students. The foundation stocks its boutique with coats, of course, but also underwear, socks, pants, shirts, shoes and hygiene kits.

    “A lot of the schools we’re starting to work with are ESL schools,” Hanley says. “Kids come from other countries, or from refugee camps, and don’t even have the basics.” She says they sometimes show up at school wearing flip-flops in the winter.

    Students come to the boutique one at a time, where two volunteers help them find what they need. “I think something that sets us apart is we become part of the school community,” Hanley says. “We realized unless we actually looked at the child and fitted them, their needs weren’t being met. It isn’t just about the stuff.”

    Having new clothes allows children to focus on school and reduces fighting that might be caused when one kid makes fun of the way another is dressed, the women say. When children come to school wearing clothing that doesn’t fit, is filled with holes or is dirty, says Tierney, they’re focusing on what their next comeback will be, not what the teacher has to say.

    Both Tierney and Hanley say shoes are one of the items that make the biggest difference in a child’s attitude. “I don’t know about you, but I get cranky when my shoes don’t fit,” Tierney says. “These kids walk around with their toes curled.” Sometimes, they say, volunteers have to explain what a correct shoe should actually feel like, because kids are so used to wearing shoes they’ve outgrown, or their father’s construction boots, for example. Not only are they uncomfortable, but they can’t run and play during recess and gym class.

    “One of the first kids we helped was a little boy named Michael,” Tierney recalls. “The teacher said, ‘I’ve got a little boy who won’t come to school. His clothes are full of holes, and his shoes are duct-taped together.’ So I went home and raided my son’s closets.”

        Tierney brought the clothes down in a bag to give to the teacher, who told her, ‘Michael wants to meet you.” The boy shook Tierney’s hands, dropped down on one knee and put his head on her hand. She found out that he still wore his duct-taped shoes for recess and gym class, so the Bass Weejuns she had given him would last longer. “His willingness to try to work with what we had given him was such an impactful thing,” Tierney says. “Sometimes it’s embarrassing to see the need,” adds Hanley. “Every step of what we do builds dignity and the ability to learn.” 

    The women hope that one day they can expand their organization to help every needy student in St. Louis. Right now, there are 26 schools on their waiting list. “We saw the need, it was overwhelming, and it was not just coats,” Hanley says. “We saw that we were really able to make a difference in the children’s lives so they could focus on what they should.”