Back to School Opening
Clothes For Kids opens its doors for back to school on Wednesday, August 24th. “Thanks to generous donations from the community we have the best back to school inventory that we have experienced in a number of years,” says Nancy Laird-Burris, Program Manager for Clothes For Kids.
Over the summer, the volunteers will be sorting, cleaning and preparing the store for back to school. During the first two weeks of operation, we anticipate that more than 50 volunteers will contribute nearly 1,500 hours of support to ensure that every family receives quality services and clothing. In June and early July volunteers will sort lost and found collected from nearly 70 schools in three districts.
Students qualify for Clothes For Kids through the free or reduced lunch program. To simplify the process for the families, students should go to the school they attend and obtain a clothing requisition form from their school office. The form outlines the hours of operation and includes a detailed map to Clothes For Kids.
When families arrive at Clothes For Kids, they will be given a number and asked to wait so that each family can have the space and time necessary to pick out clothing for their students. Each student will receive a shopping list and basket when they come in to shop and can then look through the racks of new and gently used clothing that have been sorted by size and type. During their one shopping trip per school year, students should receive a warm coat, lighter weight coat, 1 pair of shoes, socks, underwear and more. The only thing that is missing is the cash register.
“We find that the wardrobes provided by Clothes For Kids help students to build confidence, so that they can attend school focused on learning meeting our vision to Empower Students For Success One Wardrobe at a Time” says Mark Cholvin, CFK Board President. “In addition to the benefits to the students, relieving the families of this expense gives them the opportunity to focus on housing, food and other necessities.”
As the program continues to grow Clothes For Kids is grateful to have the inventory we currently have and we recognize that in order to meet the increasing demand for our services we need additional volunteers, in-kind donations and cash contributions that help us to fill the holes in inventory and meet the needs of students in Headstart through 12th grade.