Kritti's Closet born of need to help

AUSTINTOWN

In Room 102, Fitch High School students can find necessities from jeans, Falcon-wear and business attire to school supplies and personal-hygiene products.

Kritti’s Closet, the school’s Family and Community Career Leaders of America group project coming to fruition, is a resource for students in need of a little help.

The effort got its spark from Family and Consumer Science teacher Donna Burnell’s admirable ambition in memory of a family member.

She said the project started with her and Principal Chris Berni discovering a student sneaking out of school in the afternoon. Upon investigating, they found the student was going home to take care of siblings.

“That’s not something we want our kids to have to think about, because how are we supposed to tell this student, ‘You really need to focus on algebra. We know you’re hungry. We know you’re worried about your family, but really, algebra is important,’” Burnell said.

A phone call soon after revealed her student’s situation and pushed Burnell to action.

“My sister-in-law passed away a year ago of a brain aneurysm – it was tragic. But my brother called and said, ‘I need to get rid of Kritti’s clothes, but I want them to go to good use, someone who needs them,’” Burnell said. “I thought, ‘Not only could we help one student, but we could fulfill the obvious need to help many students.’”

What was a mere idea and a small collection of donated clothes in November will open Tuesday with shelves stocked full of everyday items available to students from students – free of charge.

Read more about the project in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.