My Nonprofit Reviews

This dynamic organization fills unmet local needs efficiently and with impressive kindness. Over my 20 years as an elementary school counselor I've watched The Assistance League of Kansas City expand and improve their school clothing program (Operation School Bell) both in quality of clothing and in number of children served. A quick scan of their website will tell you that OSB is one of their many valuable services. What the site may not communicate is the impact their work has on vulnerable individuals. Imagine a kindergarten child who rarely speaks coming to school the morning after a trip to OSB sporting new clothes and stopping along the way to his classroom to poise and say, "Ta-dah!" Picture precious children dressing up in their best clothes for a much-awaited trip to select the only new clothes they will get. Along with the tangible gifts the students enjoy the excitement of "shopping" in what looks like a real store, not a thrift shop. Perhaps most impressive is the kindness and dignity the volunteers offer the students. For many of us who regularly shop in retail stores it is difficult to understand the impact OSB has on students. But it is not difficult to help make the experience happen.