The Table Leaf Foundation

About Us

The Table Leaf Foundation (TLF) supports initiatives connecting students with their larger communities to address human needs such as food insecurity, homelessness, and illiteracy. Guided by the mission, "Making a Difference at the Intersection of Classroom & Community", students participating in Olathe Students Care (OSC) develop projects and craft a strategy to combat a need. The student-driven projects are presented to a 'Shark Tank' with the most feasible, impactful projects earn funding from the Foundation. Students spend the remainder of the school year implementing their projects.

Sample projects have provided free laundry services to housing insecure families, birthday bags for homeless students, binders to students who could not afford to replace worn ones, take-home bags of food for students whose main source of food comes through school-provided meals, and a service dog for counselors to use in supporting students throughout their day.

A week-long summer camp finds OSC students learning leadership skills and project creation strategies for a half day. During the second portion, participants roll up their sleeves and volunteer a variety of nonprofits in the area. OSC students learn to work as a member of a team, conduct research, manage conflicting opinions, develop a budget, speak publicly, lobby for a cause, and execute a project from inspiration to completion.

Families in gain needed assistance. More importantly, students develop a passion for others and a heart for service.

The goal is expansion to "Our Students Care" and more communities served.