Clothing drive held for M'ville students in need

Local real estate agents and other volunteers helped to gather donations of warm clothing for Marysville children in need on Oct. 9 and 10.

The Real Estate Solutions Group from the local Keller Williams office owned by Anton Stetner collected donations for the two days at the Marysville Kohl’s.

“We are doing a clothing drive for kids in the Marysville School District,” said Lisa Fauquet, one of the volunteers for the clothing drive from the Keller Williams office.

Staff at the office wanted to help after learning the magnitude of the problem in local schools.

“We found out there are 440 students that are registered in the Marysville School District who are in transition and don’t have stable homes,” said Fauquet. “It’s very overwhelming to think about the kids in our district that don’t have stable homes and the availability of warm winter clothing."

Fauquet said the office has many parents who have students in the district.

“It came together when we discovered that there was a need. We’re somewhat involved in the Marysville School District and the owner of our team at Keller Williams Real Estate Solutions Group has three kids in the district and he and his wife have done a lot of things to help,” she said.

Volunteer Ricky McCaig also has a child in the district and said he came out in part because of that.

“I just wanted to support the team,” he said. “As part of the Real Estate Solutions Group I wanted to show my support for the community and do what I can do."

The drive went well with many people donating.

“People’s reactions have been fantastic,” said Fauquet.

She hopes the drive will also help community members begin to realize how many students are in need of help in Marysville.

“I think there’s a lot of people like ourselves who were unaware of this fact. I had worked for the school district in the past and was still shocked to find out about the amount of kids in the district that don’t have stable housing,” said Fauquet. “And that was last year’s numbers and I’m really concerned what this year will look like."

The donations are being given directly to the school district to help with their programs that assist students who are homeless or do not have stable housing.