Syracuse has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the nation.
For some kids, this means going to school hungry. For others, it means showing up to class wearing old or dirty clothes. That didn’t sit well with Reggie Kelley, who first learned about the child poverty rate in a 2017 syracuse.com article.
The article mentioned Brighton Academy, previously Danforth Middle School, which Kelley attended when he was young. Kelley, then a banker at BNY Mellon and part-time photographer, reached out to Dani Perkins, Brighton Academy’s social worker, asking how to help.
“Mr. Kelley, my kids just need the basic essentials of life that you and I take for granted,” Perkins told him. “Soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, a clean pair of socks.”
Kelley left the school with a new sense of purpose. As a man of faith, he turned to prayer to guide him. He said the Lord advised him to let others know what was happening in Syracuse schools. He started contacting his family, friends and coworkers, and began to get donations.
“That was the beginning of Rise Above Poverty,” Kelley said.
Rise Above Poverty is a donation-based nonprofit that supports youth with basic needs to attend school. They provide clothes and hygiene products, and organize community programs to empower children to excel in academic and social environments.
Rise Above Poverty’s office and warehouse at 600 W. Genesee St. spans an entire block. It’s a labyrinth of interconnected hallways and rooms. In the four main rooms used for inventory, floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with storage bins line the walls.
They’re neatly classified by product, age group and clothing size. Each room has a different purpose: one for personal hygiene products, another for laundry and detergents, one for underwear and socks, and one for winter coats.
Rise Above Poverty collaborates with schools across the city to deliver products on a need basis. When caseworkers at schools need products, whether it be…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply