Student rescues Laconia High Care Closet from construction shuffle

LACONIA — Kaylynn Barker needed to do some community service work for a class when she was in middle school. She decided to help out with the Laconia Middle School Care Closet, a resource available for students who needed some material help, such as clothing or school supplies.

When supplies in the closet were disappearing as quickly as she could organize them, she realized how important her work was.

“I wanted to do it again,” she explained, “I really liked helping the people” in need of things their classmates might have taken for granted.

Barker had a problem, though. She first encountered the Care Closet during her final year of middle school, and entered her ninth grade year at Laconia High School earlier this month. Most incoming high school students are timid and intimidated, but Barker, who has the stature and verve of a spark plug, isn’t most students. It didn’t take long for Principal Lisa Hinds to figure that out.

“She walked in and said to me, ‘I want to take over the Care Closet,’” Hinds said. Little did Barker know just how much help the high school’s Care Closet needed at that moment. Due to the ongoing construction project at the school, the contents had been removed from its prior location and, Hinds said, “everything was in boxes, garbage bags, heaped into a storage room, it looked like it just exploded.”

Barker didn’t flinch. On top of beginning her classes and starting the soccer season — she plays striker — the first year LHS student got to work unpacking and organizing the contents of the Care Closet into a new, two-room space tucked into a discreet but easily accessible new home. The closet is now located around the corner from the cafeteria, so any student in need of a pair of shoes, a clean shirt or personal hygiene supplies can find them neatly organized and displayed. The new space was previously used as a student bank, and as such has a locking door. Any student who needs access can ask a staff member, who can unlock the door for them.

Barker didn’t stop there, though.

“Then she jumped on social media and offered to accept donations,” Hinds said.

Barker leveraged her personal network, using TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat, to ask for donations of specific items the closet is running low on, and her campaign, just about two weeks into the new school year, is already robust. She has collected donations of clothing and other items, and has established a connection with the manager of the local Walmart to acquire other basic necessities. Happy Cow Ice Cream has also offered to be drop-off location for donated items.

The social media campaign has another purpose: to reach out to students who are in need but don’t know there’s somewhere in their own school they can go for help.

Barker said she knew it would be a challenge to take leadership of the Care Closet, but accepted eagerly.

“I thought it was exciting,” she said. “It was going to be difficult to do, but it was going to help a lot of people, so it would be worth it.”

Barker was raised in a family in which service is both the talk and the walk. She remembers tagging along as her parents helped their community in various ways, such as finding clothes to help a family recovering from a house fire. She said she developed a belief people shouldn’t have to endure such difficulties alone.

The LHS Care Closet helps students who are housing insecure, who have outgrown their clothes and can’t afford to buy new clothes that fit, or who perhaps have spilled their lunch and don’t want to go through the rest of their day with a stained shirt. It’s also a place where students can look for a prom dress, new backpack, winter boots and jackets, or basic necessities such as menstruation supplies.

Barker said she noticed a need for dental care items, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, floss and mouthwash. “I know a lot of kids who get made fun of because of their teeth,” she said, to the point where they only smile with a closed mouth. “When they start to really care about themselves, they want the dental stuff.”

The Care Closet has particular need right now for men’s pants, sized small through large, and there will always be a need for winter coats and boots. Those who wish to join the effort should reach out to the high school’s main office at 603-524-3350 for more information.

Hinds said there is a greater need for such services at the high school than most people would expect.

“We had to put it on hold for a while,” due to construction, Hinds said, but the Care Closet is now back in business thanks to Barker’s initiative. “I’m glad that Kaylynn has taken it over.”