Lugging large bags of coats, Rosemary Hanley stepped out of the 26-degree air and into the city grade school. Most of the students rushed past, but one boy, dressed in his father’s coat, walked alongside her, his sleeves dragging on the floor. Later, Hanley fitted him in a navy blue coat. “My dad’s going to be so happy I’m warm,” he said. In that moment, nearly 20 years ago, Hanley realized what so many students in St. Louis are up against. She began doing more supply drives for local schools and eventually quit her job to work full time helping students, co-founding The Little Bit Foundation. Now, the organization works with 42 schools across the region, helping more than 14,000 kids, and it is ready to take on its most ambitious project to date, Project Graduation.
What did you do before you started Little Bit? I was in sales. I loved what I was doing, but I always felt like there was something else I was supposed to be doing. So I just did it and took a leap of faith.
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Did you have any aha moments as you were getting started? I remember this one little girl who always needed extra support with clothing and coats. One day, she couldn’t wait to tell me that her family didn’t have any food all weekend long, but on Sunday night, they had cake. It really threw me for a loop. That was the first time that I went to another organization, Operation Food Search, and I said, “How can we partner to make sure there’s no child hungry in St. Louis?” Now we have incredible food distribution programs.
The foundation also offers health and wellness programs. That was another aha moment. I was observing a first-grade class, and a little girl was sitting next to me. Her eyeglasses didn’t have the arms on the side; she was trying to balance them on her nose, and they kept falling. She looked at me and goes, “These darned things.” I thought to myself, Sweetheart, how can you possibly pay attention or see the board? So we started partnering with Healthy Kids Express and Eye Thrive. It’s all about understanding how to make sure not one need goes unmet.
How has the pandemic changed things? The students and families that we serve are affected even more than you can imagine. Our students were getting two meals a day, and these are families who are under a lot of stress, so we’ve created, with partnerships, a Feeding Hope program, in which we’re in direct contact with the most vulnerable families. We walk with the families through this crisis. There are also increases to the tutoring program, which is now virtual, so more students have in-depth educational support through tutoring.
Tell me about Little Bit’s partnership with Riverview Gardens and Project Graduation. We saw that Riverview Gardens was a school district that really needed our help, and they were open to the partnership. We came up with the plan five years ago, and we adopted the whole school district. We follow students from preschool through high school. Our end goal is to show that there’s an increase in graduation rates when students have somebody walking with them. It’s called Project Graduation. We also work on increasing next steps for opportunities after high school through mentorship, job fairs, and internships.
It seems like a big step for your organization. Right now, we’re raising $8.4 million in support of adopting Riverview Gardens. That’s 13 schools and close to 6,000 kids. It’s also helping us. We had a flood at our building recently. But before that, we were hoping to renovate it so we could be more productive and could continue to support our families. We always need volunteers. If you have an interest, reach out. We also need in-kind items. People can do drives or go to Amazon. We have a wish list, and you can purchase something and have it sent directly to us.
What is the single most important thing a child needs to succeed? Someone to believe in them.
