LatinaLista — Most parents look forward to their children going back to school, but for those families who struggle to make ends meet it can prove to be a stressful time. It’s bad enough that money must be found to pay for a new year’s worth of school supplies but buying new clothes or uniforms (adopted by many public schools these days) just adds to a family’s financial burden.
And children without the proper clothes for school feel embarrassed and self-conscious to the point they don’t even want to go to school.
In Pinellas County,Florida, a couple of enterprising women who worked with low-income school children realized the connection between a child having new school clothes and their performance in the classroom. They decided to do something to help.
In 2002, Clothes to Kids was founded with another one being founded in 2007 in Denver, Colorado.
The mission of Clothes to Kids is to:
To provide new and quality used clothing to low income, school-aged children free of charge.
A Clothes to Kids store supplies each eligible child in grades K-12 with a week’s worth of clothing, from brand new underwear to gently worn pants.
To shop at the store, families must meet certain eligibility guidelines and be referred by either a social worker, guidance counselor, teacher, priest, rabbi or other church official or social agency.
The local community is asked to donate clothing and volunteers work the stores.
