CAP

06/02/2026

Kudos and thank you to the staff (and their families) at Norton Commons Elementary.

A dedicated crew of 21 joined efforts at CAP on Mon., June 1, to sort five huge boxes containing hundreds of sneakers, boots, sandals, and heels. Brand names included Skechers, Saucony, Reebok, Ann Klein, New Balance, and Doc Marten. Many in this crew visited last June to work together in a warm warehouse.

The work and attitudes were impressive. Children and adults worked together to remove the cardboard and trash from shoe boxes, pair the shoes with zip ties, label them using tape and Sharpies and get them on the right tables. Today, we have added the sneakers to our shoe cage to give out during the upcoming school year. The sandals and heels will be distributed at giveaways during June, July, and August. The dress and winter boots have been boxed up and shelved, and they will come down in September. This gift was part of a substantial donation by Amazon SDF4 in April.

During the 2025-26 school year, CAP hosted regular weekly volunteers from Churchill Park School where staff and students help package and sort items. But Norton Commons Elementary was the school to most frequently send large groups of volunteers. They sent large groups to volunteer at CAP at least five times, including a school field trip where students helped process items.

Thank you to the staff members who know the need among students throughout the school district and want to make a difference. And these staff members are teaching their own children the benefit and productivity that comes from sweating toward a larger goal.

A special thank you to Norton Commons Elementary Principal Dr. Andrew Terry, who leads the group by example and was zip tying shoes and breaking down boxes as fast as anyone. Only with a principal's blessing will a school step up and help CAP as much as Norton Commons Elementary.

•••

JCPS Opportunity & Access Division 15th District PTA Norton Commons Elementary School Norton Commons Elementary School PTA Norton Commons HOA — Official Resident Group

06/02/2026

05/21/2026

Earlier this school year CAP partnered with a new nonprofit, Green Standards. This nonprofit helps repurpose furniture and fixtures from office buildings into new locations, avoiding filling landfills with perfectly fine furniture.

This partnership helped equip a conference room at CAP with a 10-person table, large television, whiteboard, and alternative office chair seating that will offer groups a place to gather in the 2026-27 school year. These items came from a large building in downtown Louisville that was being emptied floor by floor. Thanks to Green Standards we proudly shared about 30 big screen televisions, barstools, tables, and whiteboards with families and schools.

The good people at Green Standards also reached out to us about two months ago to see if we could accept an additional shipment. An auto plant was changing their cafeteria, and they had items to share: 120 stackable chairs, 15 six-person tables, and 12 four-person tables. We said, "yes."

We offered these to schools, who used them for gathering spaces at locations throughout the school district. We still have a seven of the six-person tables and just today a teacher visited to claim two of the tables with chairs for her new high school classroom.

We are proud to use our connections and our space at 1400 West Jefferson Street to help donations of new items and gently used items find new homes. For example, Middletown Elementary Principal Whitney Randall requested three of the tables and a dozen chairs. Now, the school's teacher's lounge has comfortable and practical updated furniture. And the school can use their limited funds for more important things than tables and chairs.

We are much more than uniforms. We're much more than clothing. Thanks to partnerships CAP has accepted 114 pallets of new items since January 1. (That is almost five fully loaded tractor-trailer trucks!) That includes hygiene items that lotion and body wash, household items like air fryers and crock pots, toys, school supplies, pillows and sheets, sunglasses, diapers, and feminine hygiene products. Thanks to Amazon SDF4 we received 20 pallets of new shoes. That allowed us to distribute thousands of new Under Armour slides and sandals to schools in the past three weeks. We still have thousands of new sneakers and boots to sort and distribute in the coming school year.

CAP is a win/win for school families and students as well as an easy way for good volunteers and donors to contribute.

•••

15th District PTA JCPS Diversity Equity and Poverty Dept. - Envision Equity

05/15/2026

This week we received 12 pallets of "soft line" items from the United Breast Cancer Foundation. These are thousands of clothing items, pillows, sheets, costumes, blankets, bras, etc.

This sweatshirt is one of the new items in the boxes. We have four volunteers: Ireland, Jane, Amy, and Julie, going through some of these boxes today to sort things.

UBCF has donated 24 pallets to CAP since January 1 with items valued at more than $350,000. They are planning to send more. All of these items will be sorted and organized and go out to students and families in the coming year.

With the arrival of these 12 pallets on Thurs., May 14, that brings the total pallets of new name brand items delivered to CAP since January to 114 pallets, which is almost five full tractor-trailer trucks. That is also the total number of pallets of new items delivered to CAP during all of 2025.

•••

JCPS Diversity Equity and Poverty Dept. - Envision Equity 15th District PTA

05/15/2026

Thank you to the 23 schools represented by employees who came to CAP on Fri., May 15, to collect bags of new Under Armour slides and sandals. We made a dent in our stockpile. We still have women's 7, 8, 9, and 10, and men's 10 and 11. We also have size 16, 17, and 18.

05/15/2026

CAP hosted its second May bonus giveaway on Wed., May 13. Thirty-five JCPS families arrived to browse clothing, shoes, hygiene items, toys, and household products. Many families left with one of the 25 bicycles from Pedal Power, a Beargrass Christian Church ministry. Other families left with new coffee makers, Keurigs, and other small appliances.

CAP hosts in-person appointments all school year for JCPS families. These bonus giveaways—on Wed., May 6, and Wed., May 13—allowed families to collect bags of extra clothing and items to help their families with the summer months.

Many thanks to the volunteers whose work made this possible: Cathy Johnson Kane, Charles Etta Miller, Jane Steffler, Ann Stein, and Julie Waterman. Thank you also to AmeriCorps member Ireland Greene.

•••

JCPS Diversity Equity and Poverty Dept. - Envision Equity 15th District PTA

05/14/2026

We just invited an employee representative from every JCPS school to visit CAP on Fri., May 15, or Mon., May 18, to collect new Under Armour slides and sandals in men's and women's sizes.

This could be a nice thing for any school employee and for any high school student.

We received a stunning donation in April of 20 pallets of new slides, sandals, and shoes from Amazon SDF4. We started by sorting the 11 pallets of slides and sandals (about 7,300 pairs), and volunteers just completed that today. We've already given out thousands, and we have more to do.

A morning announcement at duPont Manual High last week encouraged any students interested in the new Under Armour slides to visit school employee Ronisha Vinson to get some. We're glad students took her up on this offer. She made two trips to CAP to gather them. Thank you for looking out for students, Ronisha.

We are offering these to JCPS employee representative for any JCPS high school student and any employee of an Early Childhood, elementary, middle, or high school.

•••

JCPS Diversity Equity and Poverty Dept. - Envision Equity 15th District PTA DuPont Manual High School Alumni Youth Performing Arts School - YPAS DuPont Manual High School/Youth Performing Arts School

05/13/2026

Julie Waterman volunteers at CAP as well as Dare to Care. Julie let us know of the shortage of banana boxes at Dare to Care. The food bank fills the sturdy boxes with food for the community.

Today CAP donated 486 empty banana boxes to Dare to Care where they will fill them get them out the community. They sent a box truck and filled it.

CAP proudly partners with and supports multiple community nonprofit groups whose work complements and overlaps our own.

None of this would happen without the volunteers who provide the brain, the arm muscle, and the desire to help out the community. Thank you, Julie!

***

JCPS Diversity Equity and Poverty Dept. - Envision Equity Dare to Care Food Bank 15th District PTA

05/11/2026

Does anyone out there have a gently used pack and play they no longer need? Odds are someone reading this has one gathering dust in an attic or basement.

If so, consider donating it to CAP. We learned that a mother of a seven-month-old desperately needs one while awaiting a room in a shelter.

CAP has public hours of 9 am to 2 pm, Monday through Friday, at 1400 West Jefferson Street.

05/08/2026

Many of these schools and volunteers have supported CAP this year with donating, volunteering, and hosting campaigns to benefit students. It was a pleasure to see the familiar faces and see them honored for the wide-ranging efforts to help their school families.