Care to Learn
For thousands of kids in the Ozarks, school isn’t just a place for learning. It’s a shelter. A kitchen. A refuge from suffering. For these kids, hygiene needs go unmet. Meals are few. And clothes rarely fit. They come to school distracted by hunger and limited by embarrassment—their education an afterthought to survival. It’s for the courage of these kids that Care to Learn was created.
Care to Learn provides immediate funding and action to meet any emergent health, hunger, or hygiene issue and restore a child’s self-respect so they can get back in the classroom. A toothbrush. A coat. Deodorant. Breakfast. These are the things that stand between children and belonging—basic unmet needs that cause pain and embarrassment.
History
In the fall of 2007, Doug Pitt heard some sobering statistics about poverty in Springfield, Missouri. The growing trend of poverty in his hometown was an unwelcomed shock to the native Springfieldian who had lived and worked in the community for over 40 years.
Doug shared the information with his brother, Brad Pitt. Doug told him about children living in poverty who had to share a toothbrush, a fifth grade boy who was being made fun of because he had to wear his mother’s jeans and teenage girls missing school because of the lack of personal hygiene products. The brothers felt strongly that no child should suffer physically or emotionally due to lack of food, access to medical, dental or mental health care, or hygiene issues.
Within 24 hours, Doug called upon Jim D. Morris, a Springfield businessman and community leader, and shared the discussion he had with Brad. Before the end of the business day, Jim offered to join the Jolie-Pitt Foundation and provide funding to stop the suffering of children living in poverty. The Brad Pitt-Jim D. Morris Fund immediately began providing funds for emergent needs of Springfield students in the areas of health, hunger and hygiene. With this strong foundation, administrative support from the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools and a caring community, Care to Learn was born in 2008. In 2009, Care to Learn Chapters were founded in Bolivar, Ozark, Nixa and Ozarks Technical Community College.
Care to Learn Chapters have also been formed in Clever, Fordland, Logan-Rogersville, Republic and Willard. Get involved by learning more at Care to Learn.
