Foster Closet Community Impact | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Children Served | 23 | 118 | 254 | 565 | 587 | 1547 |
Total Transactions | 15 | 78 | 396 | 754 | 869 | 2112 |
Financial Savings to Families Served | $7,276 | $49,187 | $60,367 | $113,829 | $230,659 |
It Takes a Village
It truly “takes a village” to provide foster children with the clothing and essential items they need to heal and to thrive. If you or your group would like to join our village to make life easier for foster and adoptive families and children, we are happy that you have found the Franklin County Foster Closet. We are certain that together we will find a way to utilize your unique talents and interests for the good of our community.
We need your help.
- Provide Financial Support
- Volunteer your time – we specifically need volunteers on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-2
- JOIN our Fundraising Committee! We need an event planner and church liason
- Donate items -new or used kids items to us, or household items to Grace’s Merry Go Round or Jake’s Legacy Resale (sales of these items helps cover our overhead costs.)
- Host a drive at your church, school or business
- Get involved as a group or business
You Can Provide Financial Support for the Foster Closet
To ensure that we meet the clothing and essential supply needs of our area foster families for years to come we need ongoing financial support from our community. Your support helps us cover our overhead costs and run programs that bring in the items our families need.
Make a one-time or ongoing monetary donation below.
If you need a receipt or our EIN for a Qualified Charitable Distribution, please give us a call at 636-344-9543.
Donate new or used kids items during our open hours.
We accept donations during our open hours, HOWEVER, will are currently not accepting donations except CRIBS, TWIN BEDS and DRESSERS until after September 17, 2024 while we are switching over to fall/winter clothing.
- Tuesday & Thursday 10-2 and Tuesday 6-8pm
- We are located at 500 Clark Avenue in Union.
- Please come around back to door C12 for donation drop off.
Donate household goods and “Well Meaning MOM Clothes” to Grace’s Merry Go Round or Jake’s Legacy Resale in Washington
Grace’s Merry Go Round and Jake’s Legacy Resale accept a large variety of household goods. If you would like items from your home or estate sale to benefit the Foster Closet, you can drop them off and add them to our account. Please be advised that they require clothing to be on hangers. (Hangers are provided in the parking lot.)
Host a drive or do a Service Project to benefit kids in foster care
Please note that the following items are nearly always needed:
- Deodorant, 3 in 1 Hair & Body Wash
- Diapers & Wipes
- Gently Used Tennis Shoes
- NEW packages of underwear
- NEW sheets & blankets in Twin & Crib sizes
If you are interested in hosting a clothing/essential need drive for the Foster Closet, we will be happy to let you know what items we are most in need of at the time.
Volunteer at the Foster Closet
Let us know what your talents are! We are certain we can find a way for you to use your talents to serve foster families and children in our community. Our volunteers are the stewards of the closet. Volunteers pack bags for kids who could not bring their clothing with them, and work on a variety of projects around the closet. We are currently looking for volunteers who can do the following:
- Match outfits and pack bags
- Help foster parents find what they need (sometimes they are in shock and someone to help them think of what they need is very helpful!)
Your Group or Business Can Support the Foster Closet
There are countless ways that your group or business can help the Foster Closet achieve its mission. Your business can match employee contributions or set up a challenge contest among groups of employees, business locations or local competitors to see who can raise the most funds or collect the most diapers for the Foster Closet.
Your group or business can enlist members or employees to volunteer in the Foster Closet sorting clothes on a one-time or ongoing basis. Members or employees may also be interested in helping with Special Volunteer Projects.
Hosting a clothing/essential item drive would be a wonderful way for your group or business to provide support for our local foster families. If you are interested in hosting a clothing/essential need drive for the Foster Closet, we will be happy to let you know what items we are most in need of at the time.
Please contact us by Facebook messenger to explore ways your group or business can help. Working together, we will ensure that the greatest and most immediate needs of area foster children are met.
Good Stewardship Note to Donors
Please be assured that we will use all items donated to Franklin County Foster Closet to best serve our families and the community. Items you donate may be used directly by a child in care. If we have too many of one type of item in stock, the items you donate may be traded with other organizations that serve kids in crisis. Sometimes donated items are sold on consignment and the proceeds help cover our overhead costs. We try very hard to be good stewards of every item donated! Even “rags” (clothes that come in with stains) are sold by the pound by Grace’s Merry Go Round in Washington and the proceeds benefit nonprofit organizations in our community. Bedding that can’t be used is donated to the Humane Society. We cannot guarantee that all of your items will be used by kids in care, but we can promise we will use the items in the way that best serves our kiddos.