Operation Shoestring

Watch this space! Operation Shoestring, thanks to the generous support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and others, is completely transforming the scruffy vacant field next to our playground into a new green space and carpool area for the Shoestring community.

Our work is about investing in the kids and families of our community, and part of that work is creating safe, nurturing spaces in our neighborhood. With new landscaping, including lots of trees, and safer way for families to pick up and drop off their children for our afterschool and summer program, we're addressing environmental equity issues like heat islands while also creating a better experience for everyone in our Shoestring family—from students to volunteers and everyone in between!

You can learn more about our work and partner with us at https://operationshoestring.org/

Operation Shoestring is thrilled to be a part of the Popeyes Foundations' SERVING WITH LOVE® initiative. Through our Food Love grant, we will provide high-quality afterschool snacks to the over 150 children in our program!

It's our first day of afterschool for the 2024-2025 school year! We can't wait to welcome children from Galloway and Walton Elementary to another great year of academic, social, and emotional enrichments! Learn more about our work at operationshoestring.org/about

Thanks to Enterprise Mobility for donating to Operation Shoestring! This grant will help support our year-round programming for kids and families in our city—including our afterschool program, Project Rise, which starts in just a few weeks!

Check out Raising Children in Jackson, an oral history collection exploring what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/operation-shoestring

Have you checked out Raising Children in Jackson yet? You can listen online via Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and check it out at https://www.jsums.edu/margaretwalkercenter/raising-children-in-central-jackson/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-children-in-jackson-a-series-of-oral-history-recordings/id1751774770

🗳️ Calling all Operation Shoestring supporters! 🙌 We're thrilled to be nominated for the Charity Navigator Community Choice Awards, and we need your votes to secure this honor. Vote now: https://charitynavigator.typeform.com/to/kS6452iY =Operation%20Shoestring

Click the link to vote and spread the word by sharing this post. Together, we can create positive change!

https://ourvoicesourfuture.my.canva.site/home

🎤 Join us for 'Our Voices, Our Future: Town Halls for Change'! 🌟 Hosted by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, these town halls are designed to amplify the voices of African American communities across Mississippi. Come share your stories, advocate for change, and help shape the future of our state. The series kicks off on July 11 and ends on July 29. 📅 Find out more and RSVP now:

Our Voices, Our Future: Town Halls for Change Join 'Our Voices, Our Future' town halls by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus. Share your voice, and advocate for change.

Raising Children in Central Jackson Oral History Project is now complete and available to hear on the Margaret Walker Center website.

This weekend, join the community for a "We Are the Village: A Creative Listening Event," come-and-go from 10 am to 1 pm. This event will include opportunities to listen to compiled clips from the oral history collection and create art inspired by those clips.

This is free and open to the public so bring the whole family.

Margaret Walker Center
Operation Shoestring

Shoestring parent Kimberly wishes that “all kids could have the experience of Operation Shoestring.” She loves that her children have learned how to swim in our program, and that she no longer “ has to worry about where her children were going for the summer,” because she felt confident they were learning in addition to being supported, challenged, and affirmed in a safe environment.

Partner with us this summer as we strive to make the types of experiences Kimberly and her children have at our programs possible for as many kids and families as possible.
https://operationshoestring.org/support/

Check out Raising Children in Jackson, an oral history collection exploring what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring.

Interviews were conducted by volunteer community members with their family members, friends, and neighbors through a project led by Operation Shoestring’s Research and Data Coordinator Alison Turner. You can listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-children-in-jackson-a-series-of-oral-history-recordings/id1751774770

Operation Shoestring was nominated for a Charity Navigator Community Choice Award. 🏆 Your support can make a huge difference in the lives of those we serve. By casting your vote, you're not just helping us, you're helping our cause. Let's show the world the impact we can make together! Vote now, and don't forget to share this post with your friends and family. Together, we can make a difference!

https://charitynavigator.typeform.com/to/kS6452iY =Operation%20Shoestring

Join us for an event celebrating the launch of our oral history collection! At this event, you will listen to clips from the 35 narratives in this oral history collection and participate in creative activities guided by the oral history committee. Childcare and snacks are provided.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1655679735279686/

Check out Raising Children in Jackson, a oral history collection exploring what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring.

Raising Children in Jackson: A Series of Oral History Recordings • A podcast on Spotify for Podcasters This collection explores what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring, a nonprofit that provides year-round academic, social and emotional support to children in central Jackson from pre-K – 7th grade, while supporting and providing resourc...

https://operationshoestring.org/oral-history-project-with-dr-alison-turner/

Over the past two years and thanks to the support of the American Council for Learned Societies, Dr. Alison Turner has worked with a wide array of Shoestring parents and community members to create different oral history projects about Jackson. From documenting the early years of Shoestring to collecting holiday traditions, Dr. Turner has both enriched our understanding of our community and created promising new pathways into further research and projects about Jackson.

Oral History Project with Dr. Alison Turner - Operation Shoestring Over the past two years and thanks to the support of the American Council for Learned Societies,  Dr. Alison Turner has worked with a wide array of Shoestring parents and...

In afterschool programs like ours, kids learn by doing, build skills, connect with mentors, and prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. Learn more about our work at https://operationshoestring.org/about/

At our afterschool and summer program Project Rise, we combine academic intervention with social-emotional learning and enrichment like art, dance, and gardening classes to help make our program embrace the whole child and supplement their school curriculum. You can be part of something that makes a positive impact in the lives of so many kids at https://operationshoestring.org/support/

Check out Raising Children in Jackson, an oral history collection exploring what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring. It's available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Raising Children in Jackson: A Series of Oral History Recordings Listen to Raising Children in Jackson: A Series of Oral History Recordings on Spotify. This collection explores what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring, a nonprofit that provides year-round academic, social and emotional support to child...

According to a national survey, four in five parents say afterschool and summer programs helps them keep their jobs and gives them peace of mind when they are at work. This statistic represents thousands of Jackson families that rely on programs like Operation Shoestring's Project Rise to help them keep their children safe, supported, and engaged in learning! https://operationshoestring.org/support/

https://www.wjtv.com/news/local-news/operation-shoestring-launches-annual-summer-camp/

Operation Shoestring launches annual summer camp JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – If you are looking for an opportunity to keep you child enriched during summer break, Operation Shoestring could help. The organization is hosting its annual six-week …

Check out Raising Children in Jackson, an oral history collection exploring what it means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring.

Interviews were conducted by volunteer community members with their family members, friends, and neighbors through a project led by Operation Shoestring’s Research and Data Coordinator Alison Turner. You can listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/operation-shoestring

We're hiring a Programs Director! To apply, please send a cover letter, resume and three professional references to [email protected]., and include in the subject line: "Programs Director"

Operation Shoestring announces that its oral history Project, Raising Children in Jackson, is now publicly accessible through the Margaret Walker Center’s website and through a podcast series. Interviews were conducted by volunteer community members with their family members, friends, and neighbors through a project led by Operation Shoestring’s Research and Data Coordinator Dr. Alison Turner.

Operation Shoestring announces the release of its oral history project Raising Children in Jackson - Operation Shoestring This collection explores means to both be raised and raise children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring and consists of 35 stories archived at the Margaret Walker Center. Operation...

Our calling to service draws inspiration from the quotation inscribed on a sculpture of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, which is located on campus. “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Our summer camp is a safe place for kids in our city to play, learn, create, and experience horizon-expanding field trips. It’s also a lifeline for parents during the summer. When kids step through our doors, they are busy with activities like art classes, soccer, and science experiments, and their parents can be without worry for their children’s safety during the workday. Through our commitment to equity, opportunity and compassion, Operation Shoestring empowers children and families to live healthy and hopeful lives with supports like our summer camp. Find out more at https://operationshoestring.org/news/