Tough economy has foundation helping more students

LAYTON -- The first day of classes is less than a month away for most school districts all across Utah. For children that means it's time to start school shopping for new clothes; however, for many children whose parents are still affected by the tough economy, school shopping is a luxury.

For Davis County elementary students, that's where the Davis Education Foundation steps in. Friday morning, the foundation gave out $100 gift cards for children to go school shopping at the Kohl's store in Layton.

"The children are identified by their school principals and counselors based on the greatest need," says Brent Severe, the executive director of the Davis Education Foundation.

The children are teamed up with volunteers -- no parents allowed -- and go shopping for clothes. At 7 a.m., 120 children lined up outside the store to go shopping.

"I love shopping, so obviously it's great to come and shop with the kids, and I love little kids," said Brooklyn Hugie, one of the volunteers.

She was teamed up with 6-year-old Diana Garcia, who seemed interested in anything yellow.

"We could get you a yellow shirt," said Hugie as she held Garcia's hand while working their way through the store.

Severe says having new clothes on the first day and first week of school seems to help with a student's self-esteem. Having better self-esteem also means doing better in classes.

"For a lot of these kids, it's the first time they've had basic essentials to start school, like underwear, shoes and socks," said Severe.

The Davis Education Foundation is a non-profit extension of the Davis County School District. Its mission is to raise money for underprivileged kids to make sure their basic school needs are met.

Lately, it's clear a lot of students need help.

"Especially this year," said Severe, "The need has more than tripled."

That doesn't surprise Scott Schaefer, a professor of finance for the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business, who also teaches economics.

"The unemployment rate is still very high," said Schaefer. "We are fortunate in Utah. We're not as bad off as the rest of the nation, but there are still a lot of people out there who were employed two years ago and are still having trouble finding work."

Schaefer says the economic recovery has slowed recently, causing another round of fear and concern.

For those not working, or working less, bills have to be prioritized. New school shopping is way down the list.

"One of the things that's starting to happen is, there's a concern about people's unemployment checks running out, and that's the kind of thing that's going to make life real difficult for people," said Schaefer.

The slower economy is also why Severe thinks his foundation is seeing more families needing help.

"It just keeps growing and growing," said Severe.

Bernardo Villar is the principal of Doxey Elementary School in Sunset. He says the down economy has been a good time to teach students life-lessons about how some families aren't as fortunate as other families. Villar says that lesson has caused his students to donate money they raised during last year's Sub-For-Santa program toward the Davis Education Foundation.

"It's an incredible thought my kids do," said Villar.

In the past couple of years, Villar says his students have raised about $800 for the foundation.

"And it's all just nickels, dimes and pennies," said Villar.

Friday morning, the students shopped for about an hour. Kohl's also kicked in sale prices and discounts for the students, allowing them to buy more clothes.

"Every child should have new clothes on the first day of school," said Dick Leatham, manager of the Kohl's store in Layton.

It's also why Garcia is going to have a lot of yellow on during the first few days of classes.

"It's fun," said Garcia while checking out, still holding the hand of her volunteer.

E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com

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