KPLC and DeWanna’s Closet’s Back-to-School Drive a great success

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - No parent should have to worry about providing their child with the supplies they need to fully participate in class.

Today KPLC partnered with DeWanna’s Closet and Wendy’s for our annual Back-to-School Drive to make sure all SWLA students are set up for success.

“Whether it’s clothing or food or underwear or shampoo, whatever that student needs to feel good about themselves sitting in a classroom so that their minds are ready to learn,” said DeWanna Tarver of DeWanna’s Closet and SWLAfoodforthought.org.

The school board is giving each student basic supplies to start off the year, but DeWanna’s Closet will keep students and teachers stocked throughout the year.

“What we do is when a teacher sees a need – we’re not open to the general public, you have to be an educator to request help – but when that teacher sees a need, we want her to know that there’s a place she can go get that need taken care of so that that child is ready to come into that classroom prepared to learn,” said Tarver.

DeWanna’s Closet also has a Food For Thought program that provides food to students to make sure they do not go hungry over the weekends.

“This is for the weekends when they go home on Friday, they’re not sure what they’re gonna have until they get back on Monday,” said Tarver. “Food-wise for our Food for Thought program, we can always use ramen noodles – the packs, not the cups – fruit and grain bars or granola bars and instant oatmeal, just things we can put into a child’s backpack to give them some nutrition on the weekend.”

Thanks to the community, the supply drive was a huge success.

“We raised over $7,000 here onsite at Wendy’s. We raised over $3,000 online, so we raised $10,824, which is amazing, but what that really is is that will feed 2,164 children,” said Tarver. “So the community fed 2,000 kids today.”

You can donate to DeWanna’s Closet all year round HERE.

Copyright 2023 KPLC. All rights reserved.