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CENTRAL JERSEY: ‘HomeFront’ hoping to help homeless children with backpacks, clothes and self-esteem

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Lisa Butler’s children are grown, but she still remembers how exciting it was for them to show off their new outfits and the backpacks full of school supplies on the first day of school.
“I would photograph them on the first day of school. They were so proud,” Ms. Butler recalls.
Well, there is no more back-to-school shopping for her two sons, who are 27 years old and 24 years old, or for her 18-year-old daughter. But that hasn’t stopped Ms. Butler, who now shops for the children of HomeFront clients with the help of her daughter.
HomeFront is a non-profit group that helps homeless families and the working poor. It is based down the road in Lawrence Township, but its clients come from all over Mercer County. For many of those families, it is a “nightmare” to try to fill a backpack with new supplies or to outfit a child, Ms. Butler said.
It is important for children to go back to school with new supplies and new clothing, she said, adding that “the last thing they want is to be singled out for being different and not part of the crowd. Every child deserves to be treated with the same dignity and respect as other children.”
That’s why Ms. Butler and her daughter, Olivia, have taken on the challenge of filling those backpacks and finding just the right outfit for the children that HomeFront has assigned to them through its annual “Back to School” drive.
“We have been doing this for seven or eight years. It’s fun to shop (for HomeFront children) with your own children. They learn by example. It is more meaningful if you can find the time to do it together,” said Ms. Butler, who lives in the Belle Mead neighborhood of Montgomery Township.
Ms. Butler said her daughter likes to shop, and she “has her finger on the pulse.” She knows the right notebooks and right pens to pick out. Olivia can relate to the styles and what is fashionable for children, her mother said.
Olivia Butler agreed, and said she is excited to shop for the little girl that HomeFront assigned to them.
“I’d like to think I know a few things about shopping for a little girl for ‘back to school.’ I love to shop,” Olivia said.
“I never wanted for anything when I was going back to school. My parents got me whatever I needed. It makes me feel good to help someone who doesn’t have the same opportunities I did and it feels good to give back” she said.
Although the first day of school is still several weeks away, there is time for some last-minute shopping for HomeFront’s clients. The deadline to drop off clothing and school supplies for the back-to-school campaign is Aug. 17.
HomeFront’s goal is to fill more than 1,100 backpacks with school supplies and new outfits this month, as it has done for nearly 25 years.
While many donors have signed up to fill a backpack for a young child, there is a “real need” for people to help fill the backpacks of teenagers, said Connie Mercer, executive director of HomeFront.
“We need donors for teenagers. It is most important for teenagers to look like their classmates,” Ms. Mercer said, making the call for more people to “adopt” a teenager’s list of back-to-school needs.
It’s easy to sign up to sponsor a child. The donor is provided with the name, age, grade and clothing size for a child. The shopping list includes a new shirt and pants, plus new underwear, socks and shoes or sneakers.
A donor may choose to fill a backpack with new school supplies. The list includes a backpack, notebooks, a three-ring binder with paper, folders, pens and pencils, erasers, rulers, a lunch box or bag, and packs of tissues.
A cash donation to HomeFront’s back-to-school drive is another way to make school a positive experience for a child. There are many small expenses that occur throughout the school year and that are out of reach for most HomeFront mothers, such as fees for school trips, class pictures, extra activities and equipment. The special fund allows the children to participate fully in the school experience.
Meanwhile, Montgomery Township is a community whose residents “generally wants for nothing,” Ms. Butler said. It is hard to fathom that 20 minutes away, there are people who are homeless and who have to figure out how to make ends meet — much less how to outfit a child for the first day of school, she said.
“It all boils down to self-esteem,” Ms. Butler said. “If you can give a small child a feeling of self-esteem, they can take over the world. All of the little pieces of the puzzle (that help to build self-esteem) start from the ground up.”
For more information, call 609-989-9417, ext. 133, or email homefront@homefrontnj.org. 