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Church World Service issues national plea for contributions of School Kits

Afghan student in her classroom. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT

NEW YORK -- The demands of disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan earthquake, and more recent events including floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, and spring storms and flooding in the U.S. are taking a toll on inventories of one of the staples of relief aid– emergency kits.

The drain is prompting international humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) to issue a call nationally, specifically for contributions of children's school kits.

The school kits–colorful tote bags holding basic school supplies such as notebooks, pencils, blunt scissors, crayons and rulers -- are contributed by individuals and groups around the U.S., then shipped in quantity by Church World Service for distribution to school children in need domestically and worldwide.

"We're urgently appealing for donations of school kits now, to be received in time for our spring kit collection schedule throughout the Northeastern states and, nationally for collections later in the year," says William Wildey, CWS Director of Resource Development.

Last year, Church World Service distributed more than 77,800 school kits in ten countries and eleven states across the U.S., and more than 267,000 different kinds of relief kits in all last year.

But the agency's Emergency Response Program Associate Director Linda Reed Brown says, "World needs have been extreme the past couple of years consuming a great deal of our inventory. Some weeks ago, we could have shipped school kits to tornado-ravaged Dumas, Arkansas, but the low reserve wouldn't allow us to do so."

Church World Service Kit collection projects are a grassroots phenomenon across the U.S., spearheaded by church and other volunteer groups throughout the year and particularly following disasters. CWS requests kits designed to fill very specific needs in an emergency situation, including school kits, health or personal hygiene kits, baby kits, and emergency clean-up kits.

And, while the personal-sized kits are a relatively small part of the emergency relief, sustainable development and refugee services that the 60-year-old agency provides worldwide, the small packages are a boon to people caught in the throes of disaster.

In 2003 at the outbreak of war with Iraq, groups across the U.S. rallied to collect materials for CWS health and school kits, donating them by the thousands to Church World Service for Iraqis suffering from the conflict.

"Some church groups have year-long Church World Service kit projects that have been going on for years," says Wildey.

"We're inviting groups that have participated in kit collections in the past to get together again and join us in responding to this immediate need," he said, "and we're inviting churches, temples, school or youth organizations who'd like to engage in kits projects for the first time to hop on the bandwagon now."

Second-grader Sa'Diamond Monroe checks out what's in her kit as classmate Julia Parker tries out a new comb at Central Elementary School in Pascagoula, Mississippi. CWS donated hundreds of hygiene kits to students in the Pascagoula School District. Photo: Christy Pritchett 2006

Practical kit gifts 'meant a lot to the self esteem' of Louisiana's Katrina kids

Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Church World Service sent $110,000 in school kits to badly damaged schools in Louisiana and Mississippi.

At Abbeville, Louisiana's, Forked Island-E. Broussard School, principal Chris St. Romain said that even five months after Katrina hit, colorful bags filled with school supplies for his students--more than half of whom were qualifying for free lunches even before the hurricane -- were "a practical and welcome treat. The school kits from Church World Service meant a lot to our kids' sense of self-esteem," he said.

Each Church World Service school kit is a $13 value, and the agency asks that contributors separately send to Church World Service $2 per kit for processing and shipping.

Individuals and groups who want more information can call their Church World Service regional office toll-free at 888-297-2767. Specific contents, packaging, and shipping instructions are at http://www.churchworldservice.org/kits/school-kits.html.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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