Kirkland Kids Get New School Clothes Through Operation School Bell

Dozens of kids swirled through the aisles of the Kirkland excitedly Thursday evening, each choosing a selection of new school clothes, compliments of Operation School Bell.

“I want this shirt, I want this shirt, I want this shirt!” one young elementary school student told her mother, holding a pretty gray blouse while jumping up and down.

“It’s hard watching sometimes without getting a tear in your eye,” said Miranda Roberts of Redmond, vice president for communications of the all-volunteer Assistance League of the Eastside. “It’s rewarding and its fun.”

Operation School Bell is the annual event that brings to fruition a year of fundraising by the Assistance League. Hundreds of kids in need from the Lake Washington, Northshore and Bellevue school districts, each selected by school counselors, receive gift cards for new school clothes.

On Thursday, dozens of kids and their families from Kirkland elementary and junior high schools got to pick out and take home their new duds. Elementary students get a gift cards for $100, and junior high students get cards for $120.

Not only does this help families struggling make ends meets in these trying economic times, it also helps give the students the confidence to succeed at school.

“We see grateful parents and great kids,” said Ginger Clough of Woodinville, president of the Eastside Assistance League. “It’s a great experience for them to pick out their own clothes.”

The group helps about 2,400 students each year through Operation School Bell, with much of the money raised for it coming from its annual signature fundraiser, the Celebrations Holiday Home Tour. This year it is once again in Kirkland, on Dec. 9, followed by an after party at .

For detals about the event and the group, see its web site at www.eastside.assistanceleague.org. To get a sense for what Operation School Bell means to the students and their famiies, see our photo gallery here and watch the attached video.