On Dec. 15, Dee Ebbeka delivered seven bags of children’s clothing and an envelope containing $1,650 to Clinton Elementary School, where Linda Kern said the donations could not have come at a more important time.
Kern, the family care coordinator at Clinton Elementary School, said that 2020 has been a challenging year for families who have faced financial challenges in the past. The economic realities of a year when many found themselves at least temporarily out of work meant that some basic family needs were going unmet, she said. The School of Natural Resources Caring for Clinton campaign helps alleviate some of those pressures, she said.
“We are incredibly grateful, and especially this year,” Kern said. “It's been a hard year for everybody. Particularly, I think, when you have families that are right on the edge, it's really helpful to have somebody come and give them just a little extra so that they realize that they're not invisible in the community. I think that's a really easy thing to feel, is invisible.”
Ebbeka, graphic designer at the School of Natural Resources, said that she received an additional $100 donation after dropping off the items. Donors provided gently used and new children’s winter clothing. One donor, Anne Mulligan, hand-knitted mittens. Ebbeka said she also received contributions from University of Nebraska-Lincoln staff outside of Hardin Hall. Another donor, Anne Mulligan, a friend of an SNR employee, provided a full sack of hand-knit mittens.
Ninety-five percent of Clinton Elementary School’s 500 students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch, and the neighborhoods that Clinton serves experience poverty at a higher rate than much of Lincoln. Kern said that, on the below-freezing morning she accepted the SNR donations, she spotted a fourth grader at school without a winter coat.
“So I found a coat, took it down to him and he got up out of his chair, and said, 'Look! It's a coat. It's a coat!'” Kern said. “He was thrilled to pieces. That is the best feeling ever.”
Cory Matteson, SNR Communication