Burlington Donates $10K To Hazlet Elementary School

HAZLET, NJ — It was all smiles Monday morning inside the Lillian Drive school in Hazlet, where the local elementary school accepted a $10,000 donation from Burlington (formerly Burlington Coat Factory) through the Adopt-A-Classroom Foundation.

The generous donation was organized by Adopt-A-Classroom, a nationwide educational non-profit, but the money was donated entirely by Burlington, which will be opening up a location on Rt. 35 in Hazlet later this month, on Sept. 27. The money will go to purchase school supplies for the Lillian Drive school, which serves students in 1st - 4th grade. The check was presented in a surprise 10 a.m. announcement at the school and some teachers were so stunned they were moved to tears.

"We know that most teachers have to buy their own supplies for the classroom, so we wanted to help you guys out," said Pete Donohue, the assistant manager at the new Hazlet Burlington Coat Factory, as he and store manager Renee Pretell presented the check.

"This is so appreciated; they didn't have to do this," said Kathy Matsutani, the principal at Lillian Drive school. "To think they adopted a school like this really impacts this community, and the staff and students here really appreciate it."

Burlington is in the midst of a Northeast expansion, and they recently changed their name from Burlington Coat Factory to simply Burlington.

The money will be spent in three ways: First, each classroom at Lillian Drive will be given an equal check to spend the money as they see fit; secondly, it will go to expand school counseling services provided by the local YMCA and third, the school will expand what's known as "flexible seating." This is a growing movement in schools across the country, especially for young children, where kids can sit on stools, bouncy balls and in rocking chairs while they learn.

"Studies have shown that it really helps children focus, especially if they are fidgety or have disruptive behavior. Not all kids can sit in a chair with their feet on the floor for hours all day," said Matsutani.

First-grade teacher Cathryn Eclarinal said the donation will really help, as she's already spent the $100 the Lillian Drive PTO gives each classroom at the beginning of the school year.

"I buy these wobbly stools at Five Below and they're $50 each," she said.

Not only that, but the Hazlet school district overall lost $700,000 in state aid this year thanks to a new funding formula devised by Trenton lawmakers, pointed out superintendent Scott Ridley.

"So every little bit helps," he said.

When selecting a school, Adopt-A-Classroom identifies schools with a low-income student population. Lillian Drive school is a Title 1 school, meaning it has a significant population of low-income students. Beers Street school and Cove Road elementary in Hazlet also qualify as Title 1.

Since AdoptaClassroom.org was founded, they have disbursed more than $30 million dollars to teachers in schools across the country.

The new Burlington in Hazlet will be located at 3010 Route 35, Hazlet, NJ 07730.