Book Fairy
Program
Do you remember shopping at the school book fair? Do you remember that sense of excitement and joy that came with purchasing a book of your very own?
Unfortunately, not every student is able to share that experience. At The Caring Link, we are dedicated to establishing a sense of equity among students. Thus, in addition to providing essential resources through our Care Closets, we also fund gift certificates for underprivileged students to use at their school book fairs, presented by the Book Fair Fairy. These gifts give students who would otherwise be unable to participate a chance to experience the same excitement that their classmates enjoy as well as grow their home libraries and love of reading.
Extracurricular Funding
As funding allows, The Caring Link also supports underprivileged students who seek to participate in school-based extracurriculars and educational activities. When these activities have certain cost requirements, some students cannot afford to take part. These experiences can include something as simple as going on a field trip with their classmates to playing a sport to attending an educational conference or leadership event. We want to ensure that students are able to take part in enriching educational experiences regardless of their household incomes.
Class Medical Kits
Our goal is to keep children learning in their classrooms without missing valuable instruction time. To further this goal, we assemble and distribute classroom medical kits to all of our partner schools. These kits allow teachers to address minor first aid issues without overwhelming the nurses’ stations or sacrificing classroom lesson time. Some of the contents of these kits include ice packs, bandaids, vaseline, medical gauze and tape, sanitizing wipes, wound wash, and other resources that teachers can use to quickly return a student to a ready-to-learn mindset.
Class Snack Bins
It’s hard to focus when you’re hungry. Some classrooms have snack times built into their schedules because younger students and those who have earlier or later lunch times need a pick-me-up at certain points in the day. However, not every student can afford to bring a snack to fuel their brains and keep their attention on track. Our classroom snack bins allow these students to recharge with their peers and finish the learning day strong.
Pop-Up Prom Shop
We believe that every student should have a chance to attend their high school prom. However, some students miss this memorable milestone because they cannot afford formalwear. Our Pop-Up Prom Shop serves as a resource for these students to receive (at no-charge) dresses and formal attire in which they can feel confident and ready to dance the night away, joining their classmates in celebrating friendships and school camaraderie.
We are happy to accept formalwear donations, including dresses of various lengths and styles, suits, ties, and shoes for both young men and women. These items can either be new or used in good condition. Please contact us if you would like to donate or help.
PACE Academy Uniforms
Statistically, children in poverty are 3x more likely to struggle with behavioral problems in school. This means that many of the students attending the Madison County Alternative School known as PACE Academy are resource insecure. In its more controlled approach to education, PACE requires students to wear a uniform of khaki pants and black shirts. However, not every attendee’s family can afford this apparel. To help, we stock khaki pants and black shirts in all sizes at our Catch-All Closet, which is on the same campus as the PACE Academy. We want to ensure that, as students work to improve their behavior and classroom outcomes, they don’t face the additional obstacle of uniform violations based on low income.
