Sometimes, it’s a small thing.
A toothbrush. Deodorant. Shampoo.
But when a student needs an everyday essential and it isn’t readily available, finding it can take time.
Some Oshkosh Area School District schools have had Care Closets with essential items available for students, but access to needed supplies hasn’t always been consistent. When the right item isn’t on hand, school social workers and staff may need to spend valuable time figuring out where to find it.
Meanwhile, resources exist throughout our community.
That’s the gap a new partnership between the Haliburton Family Foundation and local community organizations is working to close.
Rather than asking individual schools to find supplies on their own, partners are building a more coordinated approach to connect needs identified by schools with community resources, get essential items where they’re needed, and expand support for Care Closets throughout the Oshkosh Area School District.
It’s not simply about filling closets. It’s about building a better way to respond when a student needs help.
It started with a bigger question
The idea grew from the Oshkosh Back 2 School Fair, Powered by the Haliburton Family Foundation and the Oshkosh Community, where organizations, volunteers, donors, and other community partners come together each year to help students prepare for a new school year.
Seeing what that collective effort could accomplish prompted the Haliburton Family Foundation to ask how its support could extend beyond the annual Fair and where additional investment could have the greatest impact.
Members of the Hygiene Task Force and Back 2 School Fair Committee worked with school social workers to better understand what students needed throughout the year and how existing efforts could work better together. Those conversations helped shape a more coordinated approach to Care Closets—one designed to identify needs, source supplies and get essential items into schools more consistently.
When the Care Closets emerged as an opportunity to provide more consistent, year-round support for students, the Haliburton Family Foundation stepped up with an investment to help make that approach possible.
“The Back 2 School Fair is an incredible example of what this community can do when people come together for kids,” said Tyrese Haliburton. “We wanted to find a way to build on that support beyond one event, and the Care Closets allow us to serve schools and students throughout the year. I’m excited to work with our community partners to see what we can accomplish together for students across Oshkosh.”
Photo Credit: Zach Massung
Building the system behind the shelves
The partnership is rolling out first at Vel Phillips Middle School, with plans to expand support to Care Closets throughout OASD as the 2026–27 school year begins.
Care Closets are designed to respond to the needs of students at each school, so available items may vary and evolve over time. They may include:
- Personal hygiene products
- Basic household items
- Other essential items identified based on student needs
But an important part of this work happens long before an item reaches a Care Closet.
The new approach brings together the different experiences and resources of each partner. Oshkosh Area United Way is applying what we’ve learned through operating our Community Vault—working with essential items, understanding community supply needs, and connecting available resources with organizations that need them—to help shape this new approach.
The Oshkosh Area Community Pantry’s School Pantry Program provides an established way to deliver supplies directly to schools, while the Haliburton Family Foundation’s investment provides funding to help address identified Care Closet needs.
Together, those pieces create a clearer path from a need identified at a school to the supplies that can help meet it.
“One of the strengths of this partnership is that we don’t have to create a new way to reach schools,” said Elizabeth Ahnert, Program Manager, of the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry. “By building on relationships and delivery systems already in place, we can help get needed supplies where they need to go more efficiently and make better use of the resources our community already has.”
For school staff, the goal is less time spent searching for essential items when a need arises. For students, it’s more consistent access to those items when they need them.
“When students have access to the basic supplies they need, it removes one more barrier that can get in the way of learning,” said Matt Kaemmerer, Director of Pupil Services for the Oshkosh Area School District. “Haliburton Family Foundation Care Closets give our school social workers a way to respond quickly and discreetly when a student needs support. Having a more consistent system across the district will help us meet those needs throughout the school year and allow students to focus on what matters most—learning and reaching their full potential.”
The collaboration doesn’t end with the initial rollout. The Haliburton Family Foundation and key community partners will continue to serve as the initiative’s steering committee, reviewing needs and trends across schools, identifying opportunities for improvement and adapting the approach as student needs evolve.
“No single organization could do this work alone,” said Heidi Thomas, President and CEO of Oshkosh Area United Way. “What makes this partnership so exciting is that everyone brings something different to the table—from understanding what students and schools need, to coordinating resources and deliveries, to providing the investment that makes this possible. By working together, we can create something that will serve students not just today, but throughout the school year and for years to come.”
More than a closet
The long-term goal is to create a sustainable system that provides every Oshkosh Area School District student with reliable access to essential supplies when they need them.
That’s why this work is about more than what’s on the shelves.
It’s about making it easier for a school social worker to respond when a student needs something. It’s about making better use of what’s already available in our community. And it’s about identifying gaps and bringing together the right partners to help fill them.
What started with a question about how to support students beyond the Back 2 School Fair has become an opportunity to change how our community responds to those needs throughout the school year.
Not by asking one school, one organization, or one donor to solve the problem.
By connecting what we already have—and working together to fill what’s missing.
United is the Way.
Want to see how this approach is already working in our community?
The Care Closet partnership builds on lessons we’ve learned through the Oshkosh Area United Way Community Vault about connecting available resources with identified needs, reducing duplication, and helping resources reach people more efficiently.
Read: When Extra Supplies Become Shared Solutions
Read the official press release announcing the Haliburton Family Foundation Care Closets partnership here.
