NCJW MARKS SIXTH KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSET GRAND OPENING AND RIBBON CUTTING
(West Palm Beach, FL)
Photo from the left: NCJW Palm Beach Section Co-President Rona Goldstein, Brownie Brittle Founder and CEO Sheila Mains, West Palm Beach City Commissioner Sylvia Moffett, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio, NCJW Palm Beach Section Co-President Merle Bassin, Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Sharonda Alleyne.
The Palm Beach Section of the National Council of Jewish Women held a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of their newest KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSET in the Roosevelt Elementary School in West Palm Beach on Friday, October 24. The KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSET is a secured space in a public elementary school that is stocked with new pants, collared jerseys, underwear, school supplies and personal care items to be given to children by school staff as in-school needs arise or are identified. Funds are provided by the organization’s membership and by community businesses and individuals.
Attending the event in addition to NCJW members were Mayor Jeri Muoio, City Commissioner Sylvia Moffett and Brownie Brittle CEO Sheila Mains.
Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Sharonda Alleyne, welcomed guests and noted the positive effect the KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSET has because it enables all the children to have proper clothing and to fit in. She added that the CLOSET is important because it prevents children from being the victim of bullying or being picked on. She thanked National Council of Jewish Women for selecting Roosevelt for their newest closet project.
Mayor Jeri Muoio said “as an educator I appreciate the value of the closet to keep children in school and to keep each one from feeling shame for not having the right clothing to wear. She said “organizations like the National Council of Jewish Women contribute to strengthening the community by their ongoing commitment to help children and families.”
City Council Member Sylvia Moffett said “I appreciate the importance of the KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSET to the children and their parents so that children are not kept home for lack of appropriate clean clothing nor do they have to be sent home in case of an in school accident.”
Sheila Mains, CEO of Brownie Brittle, and her team made a generous donation to underwrite the cost of the CLOSET at Roosevelt Elementary School. Ms. Mains said “when I started Brownie Brittle I used to drive regularly to Miami and beyond and I saw the children walking to school there and I didn’t like the condition of the clothes I saw on them. I said ‘someday I am going to help change it so children are no longer going to school like that. And that someday is today’.” School staff and NCJW members expressed their deep appreciation for the support of Ms. Mains and her Brownie Brittle team.
The Palm Beach Section of the National Council of Jewish operates KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSETS in South Grade, Highland, Grove Park, Lake Park and Benoist Farms Elementary Schools. With the addition of the closet at Roosevelt Elementary School the project now serves over 3600 children in Palm Beach County Schools.
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The National Council of Jewish Women is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive deals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms.