Section: Local

Edition: Final

Page: 1B

By JACK WHEAT, jwheat@herald.com

Like most of her classmates, 5-year-old Latrail Hall will start kindergarten this month with a fresh new public school uniform and a pristine backpack stuffed with crayons, pencils, paper and other trimmings.

``See?'' Latrail said as she dug through her colorful, child-size backpack.

``I've got pencils. I've got clothes.''

To her mother, that falls in the category of miracles. ``She'll go in just like

everybody else,'' Tiffanie Hall said. ``I didn't have the money for any of this.''

The Halls live at the New Life Family Center at 3260 NW First Ave. Sunday,

the homeless shelter received its annual visit from

Kids 4 Kids, a bona fide grass-roots effort that, in four years, has blossomed into the leading

provider of school supplies to homeless students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

By the time school opens, the Kids 4 Kids Club at Jack D. Gordon Elementary and a handful of

other schools will have delivered supplies to every homeless child in Miami-Dade and Broward

counties who could be identified by social agencies - plus students from migrant families, in

foster care and in programs for abused children.

Kids 4 Kids is 250 second- through fifth-graders and their parents who answered the call of Beth

Davis, a Gordon Elementary science teacher who decided in 1996 that she would no longer

watch children's hopes for the future dwindle because they came to school as obviously poor

kids in a materialistic society.

Educational deficiencies mount as the lack of proper materials for learning is compounded by

the lack of proper psychology for learning - the feeling that they belong in the classroom with

the other students, Davis said.

POVERTY DIVIDE

``When the teacher says, `Take out your supplies and put them in your desk,' and there's nothing

to take out,'' Davis said, the message is clear to everyone: This kid is segregated by poverty.

``The teacher and the students know who has and who hasn't.''

It's devastating by middle and high school, where adolescent insecurities and peer pressure are

brutal, Davis said. ``Can you imagine being a high school kid showing up with a Publix bag and

a pack of notebook paper in it?'' She treasures notes from teens who wrote that the supplies kept

them from dropping out.

On their first outing four years ago, Davis and her recruits collected, packed and distributed

1,000 backpacks. In 1997, they formally established the Kids 4 Kids Club. Twice a month,

students get to school an hour early for projects like Valentine's and Halloween bags for

homeless children, get-well cards, food drives and writing pen-pal notes. And in early August,

they report to school early to assemble mountains of assorted supplies into well-equipped

backpacks.

``I heard about it from my science teacher,'' said Whitney Olmo, 11. ``I stay in it because it feels

good to help other people.''

This summer, Kids 4 Kids had $50,000 to spend - part from $12,000 checks from corporate

sponsors like The Herald, the rest individual gifts ranging from $5 to $5,000. Wholesale buying

stretched the sum over 4,000 students, most in Dade, but some in Broward and Palm Beach

County. And there's a book for every child this year.

RELIED UPON

``This is the biggest source of supplies for homeless students that we have,'' said Juanita de la

Cruz, project manager for homeless education for Miami-Dade schools. ``We've come to rely on

them.''

This year, Kids 4 Kids took a small step toward meeting a desperate need for uniforms for

homeless Dade students. A donor gave a $5,000 check, and specified that some of the money

was to go for clothing. Kids 4 Kids was able to outfit the New Life Family Center's 31 children

with new uniforms.

But hundreds need uniforms, de la Cruz said. ``It's a major problem.''

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