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South Salt Lake Journal

Kids shop for clothes, school supplies thanks to foundation, companies

Nov 01, 2021 03:37PM ● By Summer Seschillie

A volunteer employee from Discover Financial partnered with three siblings, assisting them in picking out their school clothes at Kohl’s on a Saturday morning. (Summer Seschillie/City Journals)

By Summer Seschillie | [email protected]

Saturday mornings are often reserved for sleeping in, catching up on shows or even working. But for approximately 425 students attending school within the Granite School District, they spent one Saturday on a shopping spree provided by Discover Financial and the Granite Education Foundation. 

Each child had $200 to spend on school clothes or supplies of their choosing. The students, who were chosen by social workers with the Granite School District, shopped at the West Valley Kohl’s, which closed their store to the general public for the morning and afternoon. 

“Granite has more than 35,000 kids who live at or below poverty,” said Justin Anderson, chief marketing officer of the Granite Education Foundation. “We know we can’t do this for everybody, but we want to work with the social workers, with the principals, with the teachers, to really identify the kids who could really use a hand, who are in extreme circumstances.”

Anderson expressed gratitude toward other companies who also participated in the event, such as Friends for Sight, Foundation 4 Life, Malouf, Costa Vida, Burger King, Salt Lake Community College, and Best Seat in the House, a nonprofit organization based in Salt Lake City.

“As far as the services provided—the dental, the vision, the health screenings, the pillows that they’re getting out there—we’re getting all of these companies and sponsors who want to come and be involved, and really help however they can,” he said. “It’s so much fun to see.”

“It’s been amazing,” said Rich Simon, the director of operations for personal loans at Discover Financial. “We are doing so much good with the population of kids here that many of them have never been shopping before, they’ve never owned anything new. They’re having a new experience not only from a shopping perspective, but hopefully [this] will give them the confidence to fit in with their peer groups at school.”