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Searching for those with helping hearts: Clothe a Child seeking volunteers to make October events a success
Families await outside a Kohl's for the beginning of one of the Clothe a Child shopping events. The organization provides Frisco, Little Elm and Prosper children in need with a $100 voucher to purchase new clothes. Photo courtesy of Clothe a Child.
By Emily Hill, ehill@starlocalnews.com
Old enough to drive? Enjoy shopping? Love to help children?
Clothe a Child is seeking such volunteers to help children in the Frisco, Little Elm and Prosper areas shop for new clothes at Kohl's for three Saturdays in October. The only requirement for volunteer is that they must be at least 16 years old.
"[Volunteering] is meeting all the different people and having an opportunity to talk to them," said Patricia Wilson, director of Clothe a Child for the Little Elm and Prosper areas. "We really use this opportunity to witness to [families] about their spiritual life."
Shopping event days will be held at 6 a.m. on Oct. 6 and 13 for children in Frisco ISD and on Oct. 27 for children in Little Elm and Prosper ISDs. Volunteers can choose to participate in one or more event days.
"A lot of them volunteer for all three," Wilson said.
In its first year in Frisco, more than 200 children were clothed. Last year, more than 2,000 children were given clothes. This year, an estimated 3,800 Frisco children, 2,150 Little Elm children and 722 Prosper children qualify for the program.
"We have [the program] based on the free and reduced lunch program, so that need has grown within the school districts so that makes our need grow," Wilson said.
On shopping day, Clothe a Child provides each child with a $100 voucher to Kohl's and a volunteer to help them shop for clothes. Each family is matched with a specific volunteer for the entire shopping experience. Volunteers are needed for only a few hours.
"Most of our volunteers get back in line [after helping a family]," Wilson said. "They can do that as many times as they want to so that's a pretty exciting time in itself."
Volunteers will arrive at Kohl's at staggered times beginning at 5:45 a.m. to prepare for the families' arrivals; refreshments will be provided to both volunteers and families waiting for the doors to open at 6 a.m.
First-time volunteers must attend one orientation meeting, which are also encouraged for returning volunteers. Volunteer orientation meetings will provide participants with more information about the event day and will have Clothe a Child T-shirts for sale at $10 each.
The first meeting for Frisco volunteers will be at 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 at First Baptist Church, located at 7901 Main St., and the second meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 at First United Methodist Church, located at 7659 Preston Road.
Meetings for Little Elm and Prosper churches will start at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 21 at CrossRidge Church, located at 1701 Walker Lane in Little Elm, and at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Lighthouse Church, located at 4331 East Prosper Trail in Prosper.
Clothe a Child was founded in 1989 by Dr. Lawrence Kennedy from the North Church in Carrollton. The program came to Frisco in 2003 before expanding to Little Elm in 2008 and Prosper in 2011. The program partners with local school districts, churches and businesses.
The school districts identify children through their free and reduced lunch programs and with the help of school counselors. The program chooses children from families with the greatest needs first, meaning families who make $10,000 or less annually are chosen first.
Families with multiple children are limited to only three vouchers. If a family has five children, however, they can bring all five children and use the $300 of voucher money to shop for all five children.
The organization is also in need of donations. All of the funds donated go directly to clothing children in the area and are tax-deductible. Donations will be taken until the very end.
Donations are accepted through churches by writing "Clothe a Child" in the memo of the church donation slip, or by mailing a check to Clothe a Child Frisco at 5426 Shoshone Drive, Frisco, TX, 75034.
The organizations also accepts donations via credit card through PayPal on the organization's website, www.clotheachildfrisco.com, although it charges a 3-percent fee for donations processed through credit cards.
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