CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “A little help goes a long way” is the motto of a charitable organization based in Virginia that works anonymously to help cover all kinds of short-term expenses for young people.
“With a small grant, we try to lift these kids and make them feel a little bit better about themselves,” said Ron Fitzsimmons, president of Alice’s Kids which is named for his late mother.
She raised Fitzsimmons and his two siblings in New York in the 1960s utilizing welfare payments that “barely covered the cost of rent and food.”
Little money was available for clothes, afterschool activities, dental trips and all kinds of other things.
The memories of going without inspired Fitzsimmons.
“The stuff that we do, paying for the field trip or new summer clothes or glasses, they may not seem like life and death but, to the kid, it can feel like life and death,” Fitzsimmons said.
Ron, Laura and Robert Fitzsimmons founded Alice’s Kids in 2011 in Mt. Vernon, Va.
Last year, Fitzsimmons said the organization provided funding — donated dollars — to more than 2,400 kids in upwards of 30 states.
Already this year, the organization has surpassed that number, but few requests have come in from West Virginia.
To try to change that, an unnamed physician donated $5,000 specifically to be spent in the Mountain State.
Requests for assistance must come people in professional capacities like teachers and other school personnel, social workers, church officials, law enforcement officers or homeless center or charitable organization staff members.
To receive a request form, those interested were asked to send an email to contact@aliceskids.org.
With help from eleven volunteers, Fitzsimmons said they had been able to process requests within 24 hours, in most cases, and provide gift cards for purchases which are then turned over to parents, guardians or others.
“The beauty of it is the child doesn’t know they’re getting charity and the parent who’s struggling as it is has a chance to shine and we are totally anonymous,” Fitzsimmons said.