Have you ever pondered your shoes? Other than some careful consideration when picking them out, we may not give them a second thought – unless it’s regret over our selection! We pull them out for special occasions or as our trusted pair to get us through the day, with little thought to what we would do without them. “The biggest thing I’ve learned in this job is to not take the little things for granted. Even a pair of shoes can have great meaning,” says Tristan Ritter, Little Bit’s Manager of Programs and Activities.

Ritter is part of a team of program coordinators responsible for on-site management of Little Bit services in assigned schools, including oversight of essentials, which are the foundation of our mission to break down barriers to learning. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “The effects of economic hardship, particularly deep and persistent poverty, can disrupt children’s cognitive development, physical and mental health, educational success, and other aspects of life.” In the last school year, the team helped mitigate the effects of not having enough by coordinating the delivery of more than 234,000 essential items, such as shoes and socks, undergarments, toiletries, uniforms and everyday clothing, and backpacks with school supplies.

Ritter is also responsible for managing the Soles4Souls’ 4EveryKid program in Little Bit partner schools, which provides dozens of athletic shoes to us each year for distribution to unhoused student populations. The program includes a survey, which asks among other things how many school days the student has missed because they were without shoes. “Before working with Little Bit, I had never thought about that as a factor,” she says.

More than being able to attend school, there’s an immediate boost in student confidence when they receive items they need, says Ritter. “One of my favorite stories from last school year is a little 1st grade boy who really needed shoes. I was able to find shoes for him in his favorite color – red. He was so excited that he went around to each classroom showing the teachers. The principal even brought up this story in our end-of-year meeting because it stood out for her how much he shined in his new shoes.”

Shoes are only one aspect of our essentials program, but they can represent a major expense for families. As with clothing and coats, they’re quickly outgrown and worn out, and new shoes often can’t make the cut when families are weighing other necessities, like rent and food. Our goal is to relieve some of this burden, so that students have what they need to feel classroom ready.

So how does our essentials program work?

Before the pair of shoes or hygiene kit makes it to a student, it’s received and processed through our distribution center. For items such as shoes, uniforms, and coats, we purchase in bulk; for others, including socks, underwear, and school supplies, we rely on product drives and donations. After arrival, our distribution team and warehouse volunteers detag, unwrap, fold, and sort items into bins based on gender, sizes, etc. for order picking. Individual hygiene items are assembled into kits – family and personal size – as are school supplies, which often are placed inside new backpacks. It’s here that Ritter and her teammates pick up the process.

“My day usually begins with checking for any messages from my school liaisons for additional or emergency orders,” says Ritter. At each school, the program coordinator works with a designated liaison – typically the social worker or family support specialist – to identify student needs. On a weekly basis, the coordinator enters individual orders into the system, which produces picking tickets for the warehouse team. Orders, which averaged about 470 per week last year, are bagged up and sorted by school.

“I’ll then head out to one of my schools with the orders, depending on where I’m needed most,” says Ritter. Our program coordinators, assigned six to eight schools each, depend on the support of Little Bit school rep volunteers to help them deliver items and meet with students in school boutiques. Unfortunately, there’s been a critical gap in school volunteers since the pandemic. “I would just encourage anyone who’s maybe not sure about volunteering in this way to try it,” she says. “We provide training and we’ll make sure the school is a good fit for you. It may change your life.”

Just as coordinators, volunteers are assigned to the same school(s) so that students and staff have a consistent, familiar team to work with. Ritter describes the essentials program as relationship-driven. “The best part of my day is the time I spend visiting with our school liaisons and getting to know students. They trust me when they know that I really care about them,” she says.

This personalized approach has set Little Bit apart, as has our in-school boutique model. While students aren’t really “shopping” in the boutiques (other than picking out their own winter hat and pair of socks), they provide a private space for students to receive their orders, try on new clothes and shoes, and be assessed for further needs, as well as for staff to access emergency items. “We make it all a positive experience that kids get excited for ‘Little Bit days’ and the older students will volunteer to help,” says Ritter. “It’s a good feeling all around.”