January 11, 2017
Growing a ‘Little Bit’ at a time
Around Town
The first baby of 2017 and moe. P.3
Community Voices By Superintendent of Schools Art McCoy, Ph.D. P.2
Business First Bank networks for a good cause this holiday season and more. P.9
Learn & PLay Submitted Photo
The Little Bit Foundation works to provide elementary school students in the St. Louis area with basics like uniforms, shoes and school supplies.
Little Bit Foundation providing a future for students with expansion into Riverview Gardens By Nicholas Elmes For the past 15 years, a group of dedicated volunteers has been working to provide a full spectrum of services to school children in need in the St. Louis area. “In that time we have been able to grow and serve a total of 25 schools,” said Founder Rosemary Hanley. “I am so thankful for everyone who rallies around us and sees the difference we are making. We have 14 employees now, but we have thousands of people around us who help us to meet our goals every year. Without those people, we would not be able to do it. She said the success of the nonprofit in recent years had drawn the attention of an anonymous donor who has recently volunteered $250,000 in funding to help the Little Bit Foundation adopt schools in the Riverview Gardens School district with a focus on improving graduation rates. “It is a huge initiative and the donor is asking us to challenge organizations, corporations and companies within the area to get involved in this charge to make an impact on the community as a whole,” said Hanley. “If we meet our goals then we can look at increasing it to take on even more schools until we cover the whole district.” She said some of the key goals for next year would be to show improvement in attendance and a decrease in discipline. “We go in and adopt schools,” Hanley
explained. “We become part of the school community until the need is not there anymore. We address every need a child may have. That is everything from clothing to food to medical care to behavioral health support. We bring services to the school, and we also bring other nonprofits with us to coordinate within the school community. Our main focus is to increase attendance, increase reading proficiency rates and decrease behavioral problems.” Hanley noted that getting the community involved would be key to the success of her organization’s expansion into the Riverview Gardens district. “Our donor said he could fund us and believes in us, but it won’t be until there is swelling of interest from that community that a real change will take place,” she said, noting that the Little Bit Foundation hoped to start with a presence in three schools in the district in the fall with the possibility of starting some interaction with those schools this spring. “We want to get to know the administrations so that we can start strong in the fall,” she said. “We are also looking for financial support and volunteers. We have some great opportunities for corporations to get involved. We have drives that run throughout the year for items that we would prefer not to purchase. There are many, many ways that
we are going to need support. Everybody can bring their own talents to Little Bit and we are very good at identifying them and then fitting them into our organization.” And while adopting an entire school district may seem to be a big challenge, Hanley said her organization had the experience to make it a reality. “Right now we serve 25 schools and work with 7,000 children,” she said. “Our strategic goal was to adopt 1,000 kids a year and this is just going to accelerate that growth pattern. We will still be adopting a St. Louis Public school next year and will still be looking for funding for other schools, but this will help us focus a little bit more on the Riverview Gardens District without giving up our other strategic plans. The Little Bit Foundation has had its largest successes working in elementary schools, but also have models for middle schools and are developing a working model for high schools. The organization started in 2001 when Handley helped to distribute coats at an inner city school. “At the time, I had no idea of the depth of poverty over 172,000 children must overcome just minutes from my home,” she said. “Children who are curious, funny and warm, who hope and dream like any other, See ‘LITTLE BIT’ page 2
Serving North & Northwest St. Louis County | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol. 96 No. 2 | 636-379-1775
Party-perfect flavors to savor with friends. P.11
Movie
‘La La Land’ takes you to a pretty special place. P.16
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