Clothes For Kids opened its doors for the 31st year last week and provided school wardrobes to 149 boys and 162 girls.

“We estimate that we provided a total of 7,043 pieces of clothing and shoes during the first three days,” said Nancy Laird Burris, Clothes For Kids Program Manager.  “Thanks to generous donors in the spring and summer, we have solid inventory for the next few weeks. As we enter the school year, though, we will need to replenish.”

Clothes For Kids seeks donations of new and gently used school clothing for preschool through 12th grade students.

“We hope to give every student three pairs of long pants or jeans and in order to do that we especially need donations of jeans and pants for students aged 5 to 12 years old,” Laird Burris said.  “In addition, every student should have access to a warm winter coat, three pairs of new underwear, three pairs of new socks and one pair of new shoes. We anticipate serving as many as 4,000 students this year– which means we will go through a total of 12,000 pairs of jeans or pants before March 31, 2015.”

Donations can be dropped off at the back door of Clothes For Kids Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon or Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8 pm.  Information about donating can be found at www.clothesforkids.org.

Wardrobes distributed to low-income students impact the entire family.

“Thank you so much for doing this.  I can’t tell you the relief and peace of mind this gives me,” said one parent during Opening Week.

Clothes for Kids has been serving Snohomish County since 1984 as a non-profit organization providing wardrobes for low-income families.  Thanks to generous contributions from the community the program serves more than 15,000 students in the past five years.

For more information about Clothes for Kids and its school wardrobe program, please visit www.clothesforkids.org or contact Nancy Laird Burris at 425-741-6500.