Showing posts with label volunteer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volunteer. Show all posts

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Moms Who Care

It Takes A Village

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Hopefully Helpful School Nurse Tip:  It truly does take a village!  My students, school families, and staff are bless beyond measure to have the wonderful non for profit volunteer group- Moms Who Care at our school on a weekly basis!  

Moms Who Care Mission

Their mission is simple- Their impact is huge!

Helping students achieve success by meeting essential needs such as:
clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, and after school snacks.

Are you a school nurse who:

  • collects stacks of  clothes in your office cabinet "just in case"?
  • keeps a hidden stash of school supplies for students who need them?
  • keeps snacks for certain students you know will be hungry later in the day?
  • desperately wants to help more students meet their essential needs, but feel like you don't have enough time in the day?

Those statements described me, The School Nurse, years & years ago!

Then, one crisp fall day in 2009, the future founder of Moms Who Care (MWC)
worked up some courage, called the high school and asked if there was a staff member who would be interested in receiving gift bags full of hygiene products for students?

Thankfully, whoever answered the phone that day transferred the call directly to the school nurse's office! Little did the caller know, the service she offered was highly needed and we immediately took her up on the generous offer; and so, our village started!


At the time (2009) of the call, I had a large wooden cabinet in my office with curtains hanging on tension rods covering shelves overflowing with clothes, shoes, socks, hygiene products & a few random snacks for students. You can see in the below picture how my office looked many days. The floor covered with random donations waiting to be sorted and put on the shelves. The shelves were hidden behind the checkered curtains on the bottom right of the photo.

Now (2020), after offering services for over a decade to thousands of students,
my school family has a committed group of volunteers with the MWC organization who have a large room in the school (with windows) full of clothing displayed on department store style fixtures with custom shelving units lined with shoes, hygiene products, snacks and school supplies! 

They also have a separate storage room for off season supplies with an area to sort through donations and organize items. All donations are graciously given by generous community membersTo say my students are blessed is an understatement.


Although the logistics of the program have changed over the years, 
the Moms Who Care mission has remained the same.

To help students achieve success by meeting essential needs such as:
clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, and after school snacks. 

Typically, students who participate with the MWC program qualify for the free/reduced meal program. However, students are never turned away;
there are so many scenarios where a student might benefit from participating in the program and we would never want to deny help to a student who might benefit from the program.

Moms Who Care focuses on serving the student as a whole person.


The MWC volunteers understand when the basic needs of the student are met, 
then the students are more prepared and ready to learn.  Students who are signed up shop monthly by grade level.  They are also allowed to go down as needed for specific items even if it isn't their assigned week to "shop".

For More Information Visit the MWC Website here

To Purchase Items & Send Directly to MWC click here (not an affiliate link)

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Monday, January 23, 2017

Moms Who Care : January 2017

Moms Who Care Volunteers

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Hopefully Helpful School Nurse Tip: My students, school families, and staff are blessed beyond measure to have the wonderful non for profit volunteer group- Moms Who Care- at our school on a weekly basis! 

I've written posts about the Moms Who Care (MWC) program at my high school,
but it is such a great program I want to mention it again. Hopefully there are some Moms out there who are looking for a volunteer program to start that can make a HUGE difference for the children in their community!

Requirements: a couple of Moms Who Care & a school willing to let you volunteer with students at the school!

Moms Who Care Mission Statement

    to help students achieve success by meeting essential needs such as:
    clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, and after school snacks

    They also help with proper interview clothes and required job attire and have coordinated with a local hair stylist to provide free haircuts for students in need.


    As a school nurse, I have seen many students come to the office with a variety of different physical complaints (headaches, stomach aches, general ‘not feeling well’).  It becomes concerning when I'm not able to come up with a reason for the complaints- especially if the complaints are happening on a regular and sometimes daily basis. 

    I found out, there were many times when the physical complaints were actually related to the student not having a basic need met. Maybe they didn’t have the proper shoes for PE, didn’t have the right type of calculator for math, or didn’t have shampoo or soap for a shower, etc.  

    This is where I started to understand the positive impact our MWC program could make with many of our "frequent flyer" students....
    Our typical MWC shopper qualifies for the free/reduced meal program and is between the ages of 14-18. Some live on their own and/or might even be homeless. Other scenarios include families who are in a financial transition period (parents divorcing, parent unemployed, etc).  
    The MWC program is an extension to the services available through the nurse's office; a way to treat and support the student as a whole person.

    By meeting basic needs, students are more prepared and ready to learn. 


    For more information visit-

    Check out these other popular DOASN blog posts & product links.

    Thursday, April 23, 2015

    Moms Who Care & Yellow Roses

    It's a good day when...
    Someone brings you flowers!

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    Hopefully Helpful School Nurse Tip:  I've said it before & I'll say it again- Working with Moms Who Care is the best! Not only do they care about my students, but they care about me too! I'm blessed beyond words to work with this group of great volunteers.

    I've received these yellow roses compliments of a former school board member and current Moms Who Care volunteer!

    She said they are a Thank You for all of the hard work I do :)

    She is sweet.... She works hard herself too and is greatly appreciated.

    THANKS ANNIE!