The Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation partnered with Amazon to distribute hoodies, hats, and gloves to students at McGovern Middle School. Amazon staff members delivered the gear, organized, and sorted the apparel for 800 students (https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2025/02/26/amazon-donates-winter-clothes-800-sioux-falls-students/)
Amazon leaders in Sioux Falls connected with Allison Struck, executive director of the Education Foundation, and they submitted an Amazon Gives grant application. They received $15,000 to purchase the clothing, which came from delivery station WSD1 in Sioux Falls.
“We are grateful to Amazon for partnering with us on this initiative,” said Struck. “During the holiday season, we often collect winter attire for elementary age children, but our middle school students are sometimes overlooked. When we talked to the administrators and counselors at McGovern, they encouraged us to write the grant for hoodies, hats, and gloves.”
Struck coordinated with McGovern staff to get the right styles and sizes, and then the team at Amazon ordered the gear.
“We wanted to purchase items that middle schoolers would wear, and Amazon staff made that a reality,” Struck said. “The students were excited to come to the gym for the distribution. The principal told us the eighth graders were worried we would be out of apparel by the time it was their turn. We had enough, though, and every student was able to choose from gloves, hats, and hoodies. One student told us she felt like she was going shopping.”
The gift aligns with the Education Foundation’s Student Success Fund, which connects students with basic needs. Working with school-based social workers, the Education Foundation provides funding to purchase personal hygiene products, school supplies, clothing, emergency food assistance, and winter gear for families who cannot access other community resources (https://sfeducationfoundation.org/programs/student-success/).
