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Homeless volunteers help children get ready for next school year

Posted at 12:27 PM, Jun 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-20 13:27:54-04

Inside the Morning Glory Cafe, volunteers are hard at work making used school supplies as good as new.

"We have 6,000 pounds or 3 tons of supplies," Brenda Mott, executive director of the nonprofit Scraps KC and creator of the Adopt a Classroom program, said, "It's a lot to lift and carry."

Scraps KC has been collecting used school supplies for the last few weeks from local schools and students.

So far, 11 schools have participated. 

"One school brought in over 800 pounds of school supplies. We want to make sure we are giving the kids supplies that work, that look new -- that they'll feel good about starting the school year," Mott said. 

Community volunteers, some of whom are homeless, are using their time to clean and repurpose the supplies.

 "We have people living on the streets who may have had little education and they are working hard so these other children have education they may not have received themselves," Mott said. 

Jamal Anderson, a man who is homeless, said he loves to volunteer his time to help others. 

"I have kids of my own, so I mean if there were a project with them, I would definitely want to be involved in their outcome on their project," Anderson said. 

"Whether you have a zip code or don't have a zip code, we want to come together to build relationships," Mott said. 

The supplies will go to 100 local classrooms with 90 percent or higher free and reduced lunches. 

"Each classroom will receive ten of everything," Mott said, "Ten glue bottles, ten of every color marker, pencils, pencil boxes. We have so much." 

If you'd like to help with the project, Scraps KC still needs more community volunteers. They meet at Morning Glory Cafe inside The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (416 West 12th Street Kansas City, MO, 64105) every Wednesday in June and July at 10 a.m. They won't meet the week of July 4th.

Scraps KC also needs meal donations to help feed the homeless volunteers who come to help with the project. If you'd like to help you can call Brenda Mott at 660-243-4470.