By Katie Cook – 8-24
Catie’s Closet is a tribute to the life of Catie Bisson, a passionate young lady who loved life, her family and education.
As a teenager, her time spent in the hospital helped her to understand barriers that might keep kids away from school. Catie felt strongly that education should not be a privilege, and all children should find love and support in their school systems the way that she did.
Catie’s Closet is a non-profit organization that sets up free stores in schools, giving children direct access to everything they need to attend class confidently. These stores provide easy access to clothes, toiletries, and other basic essentials that students might not have access to at home.
Her immediate family opened their first closet in Lowell.
The response from the school and children was overwhelming. So, the whole family stepped in to help open 142 closets in 11 gateway school districts around Massachusetts. They have 3 major distribution centers in Dracut, Boston & East Long Meadow. They do all of this with only 22 employees, so they are grateful for their over 400 volunteers!
The guidance counselors, teachers and other administrators can identify a child who may require access to these resources. The closet services students from pre-K up to senior year. It is so much more than just a closet to pick out clothes.
They have become safe spaces where their time, one-on-one with a staff member, is an opportunity to learn more about the child’s specific needs and struggles. Administration can better supply support services, which helps keep the kids coming to school. The Catie’s closet team wants to see children running towards schools not just for education but as a path out of poverty.
Catie’s Closet also supports social service agency partners to fill the clothing needs of children transitioning between stable living conditions, including those who are homeless, moving into foster care, newcomers to the United States, fire victims, and survivors of abusive situations with their urgent Response SOS packages.
In my interview with CEO & Auntie Mickey I was able to identify a few super easy ways for you to contribute to this amazing organization.
You can give your time!
Each Closet has a Closet Champions, and they are a critical part of the students’ experience. Closet Champions help manage school closets by visiting their assigned closet once a week/biweekly during school hours to make sure it is clean, well-stocked, and organized. If items are needed, the Closet Champion submits an order to the Distribution Center staff.
After the team fills the order and delivers the items to the school, the Closet Champion returns to restock the closet. They currently have 10 open positions in the Merrimack Valley. They will train you to ensure you are comfortable with the position. It’s a very flexible schedule, volunteers can choose their hours, Monday to Friday, during the school day. Most volunteers spend one to two hours a week.
You can also volunteer your time at the distribution center to help sort and process donations. With the guidance of their team, volunteers help sort and organize the clothing and toiletry items according to their triple-check standards. This is a great opportunity for a team building event.
You can give clothes and toiletries!
They accept items that are appropriate for children attending school. All items donated should be free of excessive wear, rips, stains and any inappropriate sayings or gestures. Currently their biggest need is for boys’ youth sizes 5 to 18 and youth toiletries. There is a donation box in front of the Dracut distribution center. Or if you have a large collection, reach out and you may qualify for a pickup. Check out their website for a full list of items they take for donation.
You can host a drive!
Looking to rally your family, friends, co-workers or community to support local students? Their team will provide you with all the material you will need including customized flyers, collection boxes and pick-up of the product! All you will need to do is advertise and collect!
The big project they are working on right now is Fill-A-Bus! From August 1st to September 30th communities come together to host clothing drives to help restock the distribution centers. They are looking for local businesses to host a donation spot.
You host a collection for two weeks for new and gently used children’s clothes and new toiletries. They supply you with the collection boxes and they can pick up all the donations to help fill the bus. This is a great opportunity for employee engagement through volunteer work.
Another team volunteering opportunity they offer is building confidence packs. Confidence packs include school packs, toiletry packs, back to school outfits and uniform packs. You as a group would collect or purchase the products needed and work with your team to package them together. They will supply you with a list of the items needed to fill these packs.
You Can Run!
The last week of September they host their virtual 5K. All proceeds from this event help buy new sneakers for children in need! The sign-up cost is $30
You can give Money!
Like every nonprofit of course, they are open to cash donations, but you can also find their Amazon wish list of products right on their website. These wish lists are divided into different regions so that your support can be going directly to your community.
$200 helps to create an SOS package for a child in need.
Each school costs about $25,000 per year to run. Their School Success Sponsor for corporations is an excellent way to contribute to your community.
If any of these interest you or you are interested in volunteering in any other capacity, check out their website www.catiescloset.org/ for specific details. ◊