From Somerville Pubic Schools

We have a lot of wonderful volunteers at Somerville Public Schools, but we want to acknowledge two long-term Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC) volunteers who have been key to supporting Somerville students and children in need. Maren Chiu and Marcie Campbell are crucial to the coordination of the SFLC Winter Clothing Drive for the SFLC, the Family Engagement Department of the Somerville Public Schools.

For safety reasons, this work needs to be done with limited exposure between volunteers and staff. This means that every donation for the Winter Clothing Drive goes through Maren and Marcie. SFLC’s Basic Needs and Homeless Services Liaison, Francia Reyes coordinates requests from students and families and organizes deliveries in collaboration with the larger SFLC team. Sometimes students need clothing for outdoor work, sometimes students need clothing so they can run family errands, and sometimes it’s simply clothing to keep children safe in colder temperatures.

Maren and Marcie take a personalized approach to their requests, asking for specific sizes and about the children’s specific needs. They order new items online, they take home and wash second-hand items for students, they visit stores to purchase urgently needed items, and they package each item for distribution to recipients. They have prepared and packaged over 70 high-quality clothing donations for babies to high school students. In the words of Francia Reyes, “if someone asks for something that we don’t have, they go and buy it. They are amazing.”

Marcie and Maren are currently working on a list of over 120 requests for clothing for Somerville children and youth. If you would like to donate to one of the Winter Clothing Wish Lists, please visit https://somerville.k12.ma.us/sflc for links.