Watch this 2 minute video to see how your gently used clothing donations can change a child's life.
Children enter Foster Care suddenly, often due to a crisis situation at a moments notice. 75% of the children removed are placed with Foster Families who then care for the child as they would their own until the courts can decide what is best for the child. The average Foster Child spends 2 years in State care. The most immediate burden on the Foster Family is the fact the children often come with nothing. Imagine you suddenly have a child who will now live with you, who has only the clothes on their back. And, aside from the financial burden of needing to purchase a full wardrobe for the child, you are not able to bring the child to the store right away due to their emotional state as a result of the horrific ordeal they may have just experienced, hours before coming to your home.
The Pass Along Project is a cooperative effort between local community volunteers to collect and redistribute gently used clothing as age and gender specific "bundles". Each bundle consists of enough clothing for a full week as a basic startup – similar to what most families purchase at the beginning of a school year. In short, The Pass Along Project is a new distribution method, conducive to the needs of Foster Parents.
The Clothing already exists -- most of us call them "hand-me-downs". (They call them "Pass Alongs"!) However, availability is unreliable, and coordination of drop-off is not an easy task for Foster parents dealing with a child in crisis situation.
Foster parents or their State Resource Worker simply need to call, text, or email with the sizes and gender of the child(ren). They contact your location to relay the need and you coordinate delivery from your pre-built stock.
