By Sharon Kegerreis
In any given year, approximately 30-40 students in the Chelsea School District need crucial necessities like deodorant, toothpaste, breakfast, lunch, cold-weather gear, and graduation cap and gown. At the secondary grade levels, the youth may be runaways or, as is more common at the elementary grade levels, they may be in need of aid due to a parent’s job loss.
When Yellow Door Co-Founder Janice Ortbring heard of this statistic in her hometown she called Beth Morris, social worker and at-risk youth ally of the school district, and said, “How can we help?”
Yellow Door, a farm-to-table fundraising initiative, consists of volunteers who rally together to gather fresh, local ingredients, create menus, cook and serve meals. The Yellow Door for At-Risk Youth event is Dec. 31 from 9 a.m. to noon at Chelsea Alehouse.
Guest chef for the event is Kieron Hales from Zingerman’s & Cornman Farms.
Adults are encouraged to donate a minimum $15 per entrée. Donations defray the cost of the food with all net proceeds benefiting at-risk youth in the Chelsea School District.
This event is also being underwritten by Moore Pediatrics & Associates, Mark and Pam Powell, Cobra Aero, Mack Ruffin & Kathy Carter, Anne Williams/CEO Excellence Quest, LLC, TorranceLearning, and Rick Taylor/Reinhart Realtor. Chris and Aubrey Martinson of the Chelsea Alehouse provide generous support by donating the use of their space.
Morris is delighted with the prospect of the additional funds. “We have very generous community members who help out when called upon. Even a $20 donation goes a long way,” she says.
Morris says it’s easier to identify at-risk youth at the secondary level as many of them are considered unaccompanied youth without a biological parent overseeing their needs. “We can help them very quickly,” she says.
At the elementary level, youth may not understand their dire circumstance so it’s imperative for parents to reach out to the district. By law, students are guaranteed a classroom seat, free or reduced lunch and breakfast, and transportation to fulfill their education. It’s Morris’ role, and those of two additional district social workers, to ensure students are accountable for their education with or without parental support. It’s their goal to ensure kids do not go without the basic living essentials.
“We have a wonderful support community in the St. Louis Center and Faith in Action,” says Morris. Onsite at the high school, Morris keeps a stash of hygiene supplies and backpacks in her office. Other needs she works to fulfill include covering the cost of senior photographs and providing yearbooks to graduating seniors, as well as eye glasses, pencils, paper, calculators and tutoring.
Morris proudly says, “Our graduation rate for at-risk seniors is 95 percent.”
Financial assistance also underwrites student field trips, including the Washington D.C. trip for eighth graders.
Julia Porter and Madisen Powell, Chelsea High School seniors and experienced Yellow Door volunteers, are leading an effort to involve other CHS students as volunteers for this special New Year’s Eve morning fundraiser. To encourage CHS students and their parents to attend, Yellow Door Co-Founder and Coordinator Jane Pacheco is developing a featured $10 entrée for students who show their student ID at the brunch. A smaller $5 entree is available for younger kids.
Even so, Porter says, “One of the best feelings of volunteering at Yellow Door is counting the money at the end of the brunch and knowing people over-gave in support.”
Powell acknowledges that high schoolers sometimes get a bad rap. “We want to help others. Students want to support other students by showing interest and compassion.”
“This breakfast helps raise awareness for Chelsea’s ‘hidden poverty’,” says Porter. “Everyone at school agrees this is important and has enthusiastically responded to helping kids in our school district. You get a great meal, eat with people in the community and support a great cause.”
Powell adds that in Chelsea everyone knows everyone.
The Yellow Door experience is a combination of volunteerism and community. “It’s great to see volunteers work hard and people stop in for a delicious meal and to make a donation,” Powell says. “You see a lot of people getting up from tables and moving around and mingling with other people enjoying their food. It’s a good vibe.”
Yellow Door is a Chelsea regional initiative that brings the farm to the table…all to raise funds for community groups and organizations. It started in 2009 as a weekly, locally sourced breakfast to raise money that helped launch the Chelsea Community Kitchen. Today, the all-volunteer group hosts benefit events on an as-need basis for such groups as Chelsea Sounds & Sights Festival, Faith in Action, American Red Cross, and Waterloo Natural History Association.
To follow Yellow Door events, become a volunteer or find out more click here or find it on Facebook.
