Students in need will soon have an even better selection of free school clothing at Clothes To Kids of Denver thanks to our new School Bin Collection program, which launched in October 2014. The RK Foundation, which is the philanthropic division of the Denver-based mechanical contractor RK Mechanical, sponsored the first ten bins and has pledged to expand the program over the next four years.
Customs bins, designed and built in the RK Mechanical shop, have been placed at multiple Denver Public Schools (DPS) sites including Bill Roberts, DPS Headquarters, Emily Griffith Opportunity School, Hamilton Middle School, Hill Middle School, Holm Elementary, McAuliffe International School, Steck Elementary School and Swigert International School. Volunteer “Bin Champions” from each site collect the clothing and shoes donated and deliver the items to CTKD.
“Clothes To Kids is an outstanding organization that provides a valuable service to the community,” said Anne Rowe, Denver School Board Member for District 1 in DPS. “This project will create wonderful service learning opportunities while helping to provide school clothing to our students who are most in need.”
This partnership is thanks to Hamilton Middle School student, Marko Babiak, who envisioned a program that would create an opportunity for DPS students to help other students in their community. Marko, while in the 5th grade at Steck Elementary, set up a bin at his school to collect school-appropriate, gently used clothing and shoes for CTKD. The on-going collection was very successful, leading Marko to work with CTKD to expand the program and approach the RK Foundation as a sponsor. This collaboration will help CTKD provide school clothing to thousands of students in need across the Denver Metro Area. For his work on the School Bin Collection Program, Marko was honored with the “Outstanding Youth” award at National Philanthropy Day Colorado in 2013.
