The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Clothe-A-Child donations down
Director still calls program a success
The Clothe-A-Child charity which provides new clothing and shoes for needy children in Lake and Geauga counties reported a decline in donations this year.
Last year, Clothe-A-Child received $94,390.54 in donations and took over 600 children shopping. This year donations totaled $73,042.93 and funded 457 shopping trips.
The News-Herald charity recruits volunteer shoppers to take children between the ages of 5 and 12 to JC Penny and Payless Shoesource located in Great Lakes Mall. For many of these kids this could be the first time shopping for new clothes.
According to Clothe-A-Child coordinator Pam Jenkins, the decline of donations leads to a decline in the number of children that are helped.
This year’s 457 children served is the lowest total in the past five years, according to Jenkins.
“We are shopping for fewer and fewer children each year and it’s
not from a lack of volunteers,” Jenkins said.
This is the second year in a row where the charity has cancelled shopping dates due to lack of funding.
The shopping trips are done through a first-come, first-serve application process and there are many families who sent in applications that the charity was
not able to help this year, according to Jenkins.
Even with donations on the decline, Jenkins believes the year was a success.
“Even if we shop for 10 kids I would consider it a success because we were able to shop for those kids,” Jenkins said. “There have been a lot of wonderful stories this year of people that are really struggling and needed us and we were able to help them, so yes it’s a success.”