Community Thanks

KROC CENTER: Thank you Clothe a Child participants

The Kroc Center would like to extend a huge thank you to families, volunteers and our sponsor, McDonald’s, for making Clothe a Child a special event.

This year, 148 kids and 126 parents walked The Kroc hallways where a total of 62 smiling and happy volunteers waited to meet and greet them to share a meal and settle in for a total of three separate opportunities full of fellowship, fun and shopping at Target.

For the past several years, Clothe a Child was structured in a way that allowed local children to shop one-on-one with volunteers, until last year when we invited parental guardians to join in on the fun. This year, we have not only included parents, but we also partnered with families for a $10 buy-in. (All funds collected went directly back into the Clothe a Child program to fund other families’ opportunity to participate. If families were unable to afford $10, alternative options were made and will continue to be made available in the future.)

Volunteers partnered with the families to facilitate connection and conversation at dinner and assist with finding clothing sizes at Target. So, for three hours, on three separate occasions, each family had the undivided and kind attention of an adult volunteer. The volunteers were not only there to help each child shop for much-needed items in the right sizes, but they were also there to ensure each child be heard, supported and empowered to express their unique personality in the clothing that they wanted.

So, thank you volunteers for spending time with families, our sponsor McDonald’s for providing food, the Yarn Connection for making hats and scarves, and Target for opening their doors to kids and their families. With your help, we were able to ensure that local kids received the clothes they needed for this year, and give other families opportunities to participate in the future.

STACY BARNEY, assistant center director

The Salvation Army Kroc Center