Heart of Belmont County steps in to help students after school clothing program ends
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MARTINS FERRY -- When Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services announced it would not be offering its annual School Clothes for Kids Program this year, Belmont County resident Amanda Lancione decided to step up.
Lancione launched a Facebook page called Heart of Belmont County on Tuesday and has already received nearly 200,000 views.
The page posts Amazon wish lists created by area parents to help prepare their children for the upcoming school year.
She said Heart of Belmont County is a platform where residents can ask for help and receive help from other members of the community.
"The foundational belief behind the Heart of Belmont County is that if a child has a need their parents can’t meet on their own, the community should come together to make sure that need is met. And that’s what we’re doing," Lancione said. "I just really want people to help these kids."
Last week, DJFS announced it would not be able to afford the annual Back to School Clothes for Kids Program, which provides vouchers to stores in the Ohio Valley Mall for parents who are unable to afford school clothing for their children.
DJFS Director Jeff Felton previously said the decision stemmed from anticipated federal funding cuts, staffing shortages and increased administrative demands related to changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
After the decision was announced, many residents took to social media to voice their concerns. Lancione saw the need and decided to launch the Facebook page along with a GoFundMe.
"It originally started as a GoFundMe because I was like, I’m just going to do the right thing and I’ll iron out the details later, but I have to start something now because school is going to be starting soon," Lancione said. "It was very fluid for the first 24 to 48 hours and then it became where parents message me their Amazon wish list link and I post it on the page, and then people can go to the page and buy stuff from the kids' wish lists, and it gets shipped straight to them, so nobody’s handling money."
She added that the wish list method streamlines the process and eliminates the need for her to manage other people's money.
"That’s a lot of responsibility and who am I to decide who should get help and who shouldn’t? So it’s just a very open concept where they send me the wish list. I double check and make sure that the shipping address is set because Amazon does not display their home address, and then people in the community are free to browse through those and purchase items, and they’re shipped straight to the kid," Lancione said. "I also just started another thing. I posted a flyer the day before yesterday for businesses. If they sponsor a child and buy everything on a child's wish list I will shout them out on the page that has all of these views. It’s good advertising for them and it helps the kids."
She added that parents interested in participating must go to Amazon.com and create a free account if they do not already have one. Instead of adding items to a cart, parents can select "Add to List," and Amazon will guide them through the process.
Lancione said anyone with questions can contact her through the Heart of Belmont County Facebook page, and she will help walk them through the process.