By Clyde Noel

Costume Bank donates backpacks for needy students

Volunteers from the Los Altos Costume Bank assembled and donated 130 backpacks loaded with school supplies to children from needy families. Operation School Bell was made possible with funds available after the Costume Bank funded their regular programs.

“This is the first time we are doing this,” said Nancy Jelincich, chairwoman of the program. “In the past, the program provided a pair of new athletic shoes and two pairs of socks to needy schoolchildren.”

Jelincich, a 35-year resident of Los Altos, has volunteered at the Costume Bank more than a dozen years. She and her co-volunteers want to give something back to the community, and with different school programs each year they feel this is a great way to volunteer.

“When it comes to volunteering for the kids, the women like to work for kids hands on, and this is more of a direct way,” said Susan Levin, a 12-year volunteer at the Costume Bank.

In this year of economic recession, Costume Bank officials asked the Community Services Agency of Mountain View/Los Altos how they could help. Maureen Wadiak, director of CSA program management, said school supplies would be a godsend for the families in Los Altos and Mountain View having financial problems.

“Backpacks are the most critical need for families with schoolchildren,” Wadiak said. “School supplies are expensive, and our clients are struggling to pay their rent to survive.”

In each backpack, the 10 Costume Bank volunteers inserted school paper, pencils, pens, notebooks, dictionaries, calculators and crayons. The 130 filled backpacks will be distributed to children in K-12, including Mountain View and Los Altos high schools.

“After I became a widow I had to find something to keep me busy, so I joined the Costume Bank,” said Doris Shawbridge, a 20-year Los Altos resident. “I enjoy volunteering here because you can do so much for the community.”

Anne Anderson of Los Altos Hills, helping to fill backpacks, volunteers with the Assistance League in their H.O.M.E. (Housing for Medical Emergency) project but enjoys doing things for children.

The Assistance League will provide shoe and eyeglass vouchers for students as they go back-to-school.

The majority of funds raised by the Costume Bank go to H.O.M.E., a 42-unit apartment building on Welsh Road in Palo Alto. The furnished apartments are rented by families of patients at the Stanford or Lucile Packard Children’s hospital.

The Costume Bank is located at 169 State St., Los Altos. Store hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, with additional hours Halloween.

Volunteers are always welcome. For information on volunteering, call 941-4625.