Charity needs help to clothe children

Aim is to help Lake, Geauga families in need

The Clothe-A-Child charity needs help from the community to clothe needy children in Lake and Geauga counties.

The almost-40-year-old charity has in the past shopped for as many as 800 children during one shopping season but as funding has dropped so have the number of shopping trips.

In 2017 Clothe-A-Child Shoppers took over 600 children shopping at Payless ShoeSource and JCPenny at Great Lakes Mall. This year as of Nov. 7, only 233 children received the needed shopping trips. A total of 302 children will be shopped for by Thanksgiving.

“We are considerably behind last year,” Clothe-AChild coordinator Pam Jenkins said. “It just depends on how many donations we receive as to how many kids we can help.”

Children are selected through an application process and families must demonstrate financial need to be eligible. Once financial eligibility has been verified, children are then paired with shoppers on a first come-first serve basis.

Volunteers with Clothe-AChild started shopping with children for new clothes, shoes, boots and coats at the beginning of September and will, if funding allows, continue to shop through the first of the year.

According to Jenkins, while there is a need for 10 to 11 shoppers each day to get all the children shopped

for, current funding is only allowing seven to eight.

There are over 200 lowincome children between the ages of 5 and 12 yet to be shopped for this year.

The entire program is funded solely through donations, and volunteers come from residents, businesses, organizations and even law enforcement agencies. Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Department is helping the charity by donating the funds they raised from the No-Shave November Campaign to Clothe-A-Child.

For many of the children who go on these shopping trips it’s the first time they have the ability to go into a store and pick out brand new clothes.

“We got some great shoppers and the kids have all been appreciative and excited,” Jenkins said about this year’s experience.

Jenkins feels this program does more than help the children with clothing.

“The children come away with not only new clothes but a sense of empowerment and pride that carries over into their daily attitudes and activities,” she said. “So it’s not just clothing, it’s a sense of self. It makes them feel good about themselves.”

Applications are no longer being accepted for this year.