Volunteers Sign Up To Give Clothes To Kids
By Libby Smith
Day of Service is Xcel Energy's annual volunteer signature event. This year is will be held on Saturday, September 9th. Click here to register for a project.
DENVER (CBS4) – Clothes to Kids of Denver provides free school clothing to students from low-income or in-crisis families. The organization serves pre-school through 12th grade and then anybody working on their GED up to 21 years old.
"We focus only on school clothing because really it's so important for kids to be wearing the right styles and sizes, and it's really hard to find kids clothing at a normal clothing bank," said Katie Jadwin, executive director of Clothes to Kids of Denver.
Shoppers at this store must qualify for free or reduced lunch, be in foster or kinship care, or be referred from one of the organization's partner agencies, for example, Denver Human Services. Last year, it served about 8,000 students with a 21-piece wardrobe. Each shopper gets a set wardrobe which includes 5 tops, 4 bottoms, new underwear and socks, a pair of shoes and a jacket.
"Probably the most special thing about Clothes to Kids is that kids can shop for their wardrobe just like a regular store. It's organized by department, even color and size," Jadwin explained.
LINK: Day Of Service Sign-up For Clothes To Kids
The clothes come largely from community donations. The non-profit gets two-to-three pallets of clothing every day. Donations also come in from Clothes to Kids of Denver's apparel partners across the country.
"Once people donate to us they never really want to give anywhere else so we're really lucky for that," Jadwin told CBS4.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Donation Guidelines for Clothes to Kids
Clothes to Kids in Denver will be hosting volunteers as part of Xcel Energy's Day of Service. The volunteers will do a variety of chores including helping shoppers, sorting, tagging, hanging, folding and restocking clothes.
"We only have six paid staff, only about four full-time equivalent, so volunteers like the ones coming from Xcel are essential to what we do. They do almost all the front line work of the organization and we really couldn't do it without them," Jadwin said.
Libby Smith is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. If you have a story you'd like to tell CBS4 about, call 303-863-TIPS (8477) or visit the News Tips section.