Volunteer in our Giving Factory!

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About Cradles to Crayons

Location:

2500 W Bradley Place, Chicago, IL 60618, US

Mission Statement

Cradles to Crayons (C2C), founded in 2002, provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive--at home, at school, and at play. We supply clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies, and more, free of charge. Our vision is that one day all children will have the essentials they need to thrive.

Description

Two in 5 kids in the United States are currently facing Clothing Insecurity, going without basic essentials like pants, shoes, diapers, and school supplies during their critical development years. Three of the top 10 reasons kids miss school are rooted in Clothing Insecurity-just one example of the significant short- and long-term social and economic costs when these needs go unmet. Cradles to Crayons keeps Clothing Insecurity at the core of our mission and is the only large-scale nonprofit organization to focus on this resource gap. Since its founding, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than three million customized packages of essentials to children in Massachusetts, Greater Philadelphia, Chicagoland, and nationally, through Giving Factory Direct-a first-in-kind online product donation platform launched in 2021.

Volunteers help to quality check, sort, and organize donations of essential items - such as clothing, shoes, books, school supplies, winter accessories, hygiene items, and more. We welcome volunteers as young as 5 years old with a parent/guardian to volunteer.