Love for Lions! In memory of Kim Hutchinson

EVERYONE DESERVES TO BELONG SOMEWHERE. 
WE BELIEVE THAT SOMEWHERE IS LONGFELLOW MIDDLE SCHOOL.

LIONS CAN BE OVERLOOKED AND LOST.
LONGFELLOW COUNSELORS OFFER KIDS WITH NEEDS REAL HOPE.
COUNSELORS ENTER THEIR WORLD AND WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN...
THAT THEY CAN MAKE A REAL IMPACT AND CHANGE LIVES.


KIM HUTCHINSON IN HER INTERVIEW FOR PRINCIPAL WITH NPS STATED:
"I WANT KIDS AT LONGFELLOW TO THRIVE NOT SURVIVE."


LOVE FOR LIONS: Gives kids the chance to experience fun and hope during the holidays. Many kids at Longfellow would not have gifts under the tree or a meal to eat during Christmas. Love for Lions finds shoppers for kids and meals for those who need them. Kim loved Christmas and celebrating it! If you stopped by our home during the holidays you would have seen 3 trees along with lots of lights and decorations. Christmas brought Kim joy! But she loved to give gifts to friends and people in need. Would you help us continue her legacy of giving? Our counseling staff at Longfellow Middle School walk alongside every kid at Longfellow. Guiding them through their time at school, sharing with them their love, hope, and redemption. We don’t think intellectual or developmental limitations should keep an adolescent from success in the classroom. Our counselors move through barriers, including the isolation and marginalization that can impede learning, believing that the lives of teens are transformed by love. Would you join us? Honor Kim's legacy at Longfellow and help kids THRIVE!

GIVE A GIFT TOWARDS OUR ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET OF $3500
THIS IS A REAL IMPACT.
ADOLESCENTS IN NORMAN WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM YOUR HELP.

Many kids have needs that can easily be met with love. Summer Grace, Carrie Perez, and Allison Wheeler counselors at LMS have opened a grocery store for Longfellow kids, open on Friday afternoons for kids to grab meals or clothes. Summer and her team discretely approach kids and offer a necessary resource. Right after Thanksgiving break, Summer sends home a letter to ALL families reminding them of the love we have for them and their students and we ask them to tell us how we can help. We give them simple options to help us understand their needs. Can friends of LMS help provide food/meal(s) for Christmas?  Can friends of LMS provide gift(s) for your kid(s)? We really try to keep things simple but meaningful & we STRESS in our note home that we have limited resources so please only respond if you are truly in need of help.

Throughout the year though, without a doubt, these are our three top resources that help countless families at Longfellow Middle School.

1. Winter Coats - Ensure that students have a warm new coat each winter season.

2. Food - Nonperishable, partnering with Norman Food Bank makes a difference in our kids' lives in ways we still can't comprehend. So many students rely on that Friday pack of nonperishables to get them through the weekend without worrying about being hungry. Drop of off food at Longfellow in the main office marked ATTN: Summer Grace.

3. Shoes - very discreetly we monitor kiddos in need of footwear quietly pull kids aside and get the right size). Every kid in need receives a new pair of shoes + clean socks. Drop off at Longfellow main office marked ATTN: Summer Grace.

4. Shop for a kids Christmas wish list email Summer: [email redacted].ok.us

We are abundantly blessed with great support from our community in Norman. Walmart has traditionally provided a grant to feed families a meal for Christmas. We are wanting to expand meals provided by Walmart and give unwrapped gifts to parents of LMS kids. We want to grow the resources for kids not only during Christmas but on a weekly basis. I (Craig) got to stop by the LMS grocery store as a young boy came in to shop for food for the weekend and got to take what I thought my family needed for the weekend. No questions asked! Summer and her team want to help kids and take the "shame" of asking for help out of Longfellow middle school. Will you help me? I want to continue Kim's idea that kids would THRIVE not survive at Longfellow Middle School. When Kim passed away I told you I didn't want any casseroles or meat products. You listened! I am asking now. I need help buying some casseroles and dinners for kids. Kim would want this! She would ask you for your help! She would be red in the face but asking. If you want to shop for a kid let me know. I (Craig) or (Summer) will send you a kid to shop for. But if you want to send cash we will shop for you!

In Memory of Kim Hutchinson 
Craig Hutchinson & Summer Grace