As Temps Drop, Donley Seeks Donations of Warm Clothes and Coats

When Donley Elementary Principal Tracey Barton and Donley School Association President Bree Anderson noticed students braving cooler temperatures without warm-enough clothing, they decided to ask the public for help.

In previous years, the school has requested donations from Donley families. This year, they have expanded their reach to include the entire East Lansing community.

“We just want to bring awareness,” Anderson said. “Donley is a wonderful building with wonderful teachers; we just have a lot of need.”

Providing warm clothing is just one way Donley Elementary cares for their students. For example, every two weeks the school works with the local food pantry to provide meals for families on the weekends. At the start of the school year, Costco provided the students with backpacks and school supplies.

In addition, the Donley School Association recently completed a school-wide fundraiser, in which 100 percent of proceeds go to the students to pay for field trips, enrichment activities, and school supplies.

According to Barton, Donley aims to accommodate not just students’ physical needs, but also their academic needs beyond daily instruction. For instance, they have created a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) partnership with Impression 5 Museum to host an after-school club starting this school year.

“I see that Donley sometimes has an enrichment gap,” Anderson said. “Other buildings have a lot of resources that I wish could be school-wide or district-wide. For example, there are some really cool clubs that some elementary school buildings have that I would love to have here.”

Anderson believes that more organized systems for volunteering time and services – like the upcoming after-school club -- could significantly benefit the students at Donley.

“I just wished that every child in the [East Lansing School] district had the same opportunities for enrichment activities, warm clothes and everything else like that,” Anderson said. “So, trying to make it as equitable as possible would be our goal.”

According to Barton, other elementary schools also receive donations of warm clothes, but Donley is the only school reaching out to the overall community.

“We love our Donley teachers, our staff and administrators,” Anderson said. “We want the whole community to know just how hard they’re working; sometimes we just need a little boost.”

Anderson stressed the benefits of donations and community involvement.

“There’s pockets of need in every single building within the district,” Anderson said. “Donley just has a larger concentration of it. Sometimes that can be challenging for the staff and administrators as it’s just a lot to try and fill in all those needs. So, anything that the community can do to support all the individual kids -- as well as our families, staff and teachers -- would just be helpful.”

Community members have been quick to respond to requests; however, there is still a need for more donations – specifically, 25 coats, 10 to 20 pairs of sweatpants socks and leggings in various sizes. Donations can be dropped off at the Donley front office during regular school hours.

Donley Elementary School is located at 2961 E Lake Lansing Road

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