THE LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION
Breaking Down Barriers to Learning
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
As we’ve climbed up and out of the Great Recession, remarkably, a higher percentage of children are living in poverty now than during those turbulent economic years. In St. Louis City, a staggering 40% of children live below the poverty line. Throughout the region, one out of every four children lives in poverty. Poverty robs children in a myriad of ways. It has a particularly adverse effect on academic outcomes, including an inability to concentrate and learn, and far higher dropout rates. The ironic and ultimate consequence is that this lack of education continues the vicious cycle of future generations living in poverty.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
The Little Bit Foundation Programs
Essentials: clothing, hygiene items, shoes, coats
Academic Equity and Enrichment: Books, STEM Lingo, First Lego League, Academic Tutoring
Wellness And Family Support: Case Management, Behavioral Health
College and Career Readiness: SOAR Mentoring, What's Next? Career Fairs
Health and Nutrition: Emergency Food Pantry, Mobile Food Markets, Free Family Markets, Health Screening, Vision Screening, and Eye Glasses, Oral Health
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of children served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people, Children and youth
Related Program
The Little Bit Foundation Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of backpacks filled with school supplies distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people, Children and youth
Related Program
The Little Bit Foundation Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Note: in the 2018-19 school year, we separated backpacks from school supplies in our distrubution. We provided 51,208 school supplies.
Number of grants and research funding awarded to the institution
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people, Children and youth
Related Program
The Little Bit Foundation Programs
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of books distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers, Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
The Little Bit Foundation Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goals are to break down the barriers to education presented by poverty:
* Increase attendance
* Decrease discipline issues
* Improve classroom engagement
* Have a positive impact on each child's dignity and self-esteem
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We accomplish this by our consistent weekly presence in our sponsored schools, working one-on-one with each child served. We provide necessities such as uniforms, shoes, coats, socks, underwear, hygiene items, school supplies, and books. Our health and wellness programs include emergency food kits, health screenings, vision screenings and glasses and dental hygiene education.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Little Bit is rooted by our volunteers and a passionate and dedicated Board of Directors and Staff. Over 200 volunteers support us working in the schools each week, volunteering in the distribution center, at book fairs and health screenings.
Since 2001 we have grown from an initial delivery of 172 coats to serving 6,000 children providing over 475,000 items.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We will accomplished serving 14,000 children during this 2020-21 school year. Each year we achieve our goal of providing every child in our sponsored schools with the items and services that they need.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We support underserved and under-resourced children, grades PK - 12, in St. Louis City and County. We conduct annual surveys and interviews with school and district administration and school liaisons.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
THE LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION
Board of directorsas of 11/10/2022
Mr. Marty Akins
Self-employed
Term: 2022 - 2024
Michael Amann
AG Industries
Suzie Andrews
Stark & Associates
Michael England
St. Mary's High School
Richard E. Fister
UBS
Susan Gausnell
Volunteer Committee Liaison
Becky Vidal
Stark and Associates
Chris Emert
CJ Technology Partners
Andrew Waltke
Edward Jones
Nick Bahn
Bahn Realty
Alicia Graham
Nestle Purina
Karen Grasso
CBIZ
Dwayne James
MU Extension St. Louis County
Pat Johnson
Community Volunteer
Gary Mindel
ColorArt
Meg Riney
Community Volunteer
Kelly Weiss
Brown, Smith Wallace
Sarah Bowman
PNC
Keith Brooks
Big League Impact
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/10/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.