Annual Clothe-A-Child campaign underway
TROY, N.Y. » This year’s Clothe-AChild campaign is in full swing.
With shopping for the children underway and donations coming in, Clothe-A- Child Coordinator Lisa Robert Lewis said she is optimistic that this year’s campaign could be one of the program’s most successful in recent years.
“It is so gratifying to see how many donations have already come in for the campaign, which officially kicked off on Thanksgiv- ing Day,” said Lewis. “One of the things that is so amazing about Clothe-A- Child is the many loyal supporters who make their donations to the program as soon as the holidays near. Year after year, these generous individuals and community organizations send along their checks to help children in our region. We are so grateful for their support.” The annual charity campaign, which is sponsored by The Record, has been raising money to buy new, warm winter clothing for children in need in the Cap- ital Region since the mid-1970s. The children, who range in age from 4 to 12, live in the communities of Rensselaer County as well as those in northern Albany and southern Saratoga counties. Participants are selected for the program based on financial need by school districts, social service-related agencies and child-related services. All administrative costs are paid for by The Record. More than 30 agencies participate in the program each year, which is supported by donations
from the newspaper’s readers, community organizations, businesses and charitable foundation grants. Lewis, who served as editor of The Record for almost 15 years, Clothe-A-Child administrative assistant Elizabeth Robert andDebra Beck, business office and circulation manager for TheRecord and The Saratogian, have been working on the campaign since late fall. They have been meeting with officials at Walmart, working with the agencies that participate in the campaign, and handling the administrative and financial responsibilities that the program demands. For the past five years, Walmart stores in Brunswick and East Greenbush have been the shopping sites for Clothe-A-Child. “The employees in both stores are terrific people who go out of their way to help make the shopping trips successful,” Lewis said. “I am proud of the relationship we have built with these stores. People like Teri Yager, personnel manager at the Brunswick Walmart, Brunswick store manager David Waite andEast Green- bush store manager William Koktowski get it that the program is all about helping the kids. They work hard to make things easy for us and our shoppers.”
While the Clothe-A-Child program has clothed anywhere from 300 to 1,000 children each year during its more than four- decade history, Lewis only expects to help between 150 and 175 children because of a lag in funding over the past few years.
“In the new year, we plan to step up our fund-raising efforts to help bring more fiscal stability to the program,” said Lewis. Among the ideas being considered are pursuing more foundation grants and a direct mail campaign.
“If anyone is interested in holding a fundraiser for Clothe-A-Child, we would be more than happy to assist them,” she added. “The need is there and we want to be able to resume helping about 300 children each year.”