In July I was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York and had the opportunity to visit with MeeCee Baker who was attending the Chautauqua. If you are not familiar with Dr. Baker, she taught high school agriculture in Pennsylvania and was the first female president of what is now the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). Currently she is president/CEO of VersantStrategies, a public affairs firm in Pennsylvania.
In our conversation she told me about a project she initiated that is known as Nick’s Closet. I was so impressed and thought it was such a great idea that I asked her to share what was done with the Friday Footnote readers. So, here in her own words is the story of Nick’s Closet.
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Last September I was struck by the news that a freshman student at Saul High School in Philadelphia was killed when several gunmen peppered the Roxborough Junior Varsity football team with bullets as they walked off the field after a scrimmage. Nick Elizade was the only child of a teacher. My heart bled for his Mom, extended family, friends, and the Saul community.
We have all heard the phrase, “Fools rush in”. I had to do something. And so I did. I rushed with an envelope of cash to the Keystone Livestock Show to buy lunch for the Saul students competing in the judging contest. As I passed the envelope to their teacher, I asked what more could be done. She suggested a borrowing closet for official dress in Nick’s memory be assembled. As a former teacher with less than 100 students, I knew how hard it is to outfit FFA Members in Official Dress. I couldn’t imagine trying to do the same for 500 plus. So off I rushed to build Nick’s Closet with a whole lot of help from my industry and agricultural education friends.
A quick budget showed FFA Official Dress cost about 250 dollars including a jacket, scarf or tie, shirt, pants, belt, socks, and shoes. I set a goal of providing 100 sets. Add hangers and garment bags, clothing racks and tubs for storage, and industrial strength steamers, and the figure hovered around 30K. I then enlisted a neighboring PR Firm to design nice signage for Nick’s Closet. Go Fund me seemed like the best venue for fundraising. Money rushed in via the campaign with checks given on the side! I secured an accountant to oversee the process.
Within a month, dollars were committed and I set about ordering all the products. I want to give a special shoutout to Lands End who worked tirelessly to make sure all the garments arrived quickly and gave advice on sizing via a formulary used for bulk orders. In the end, everything was received for students to attend the January PA Farm Show wearing Official Dress from Nick’s Closet.
When it wasn’t feasible to recognize Nick’s Closet during the FFA convention held during the event, donors stepped up to host a ceremonial remote ribbon cutting. The Secretary of Agriculture and several legislators participated. Yards and yards of yellow ribbon were passed among the students and supporters. Everyone was given a pair of scissors and asked to cut a length to keep as a reminder of the light Nick spread in the world, and that others cared for them. Many students tied the ribbons on the zippers of their stiff new FFA jackets. Vendors supplied milkshakes for a final toast and the Saul students rushed to see the rest of the show.
Dollars continued to rush in and the project wrapped up with 550 polo shirts being bought for all the Saul students, faculty, staff, and administration to wear to more casual events. Thank you to everyone who supported Nick’s Closet. I have come to know his family and the gratitude they feel because Nick’s memory will live on in his Official Dress borrowing closet at Saul.
While Nick’s Closet is completed, I have a new dream. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the FFA could partner with a business like Lands End to offer “Official Dress in a Duffle”? Parents, Grandparents, family, and friends could go to the site and click through purchases for all items needed for Official Dress. Some type of jacket sign off by the teacher could be included. All would arrive in a nice duffle students could take to events. Anyone care to rush in?
Wouldn’t it be nice if all FFA chapters had a version of Nick’s Closet. This is something community supporters and alumni might want to adopt as a project.
When I was in high school, my older brother Terrell gave me a copy of The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Scwartz. The message is to think positive, dream big and work hard. Along the way I learned to ask for what I wanted. The worst that could happen is someone would say “No.” So, it doesn’t hurt to ask.