When Children Enter Foster Care...

... Most arrive with nothing but the clothing on their backs.

We've got them covered.

Our mission

We believe every child deserves nice, clean, proper-fitting clothing.

When you dress your best, you feel your best.

When children enter foster care, everything is uncertain and they are powerless in decisions being made about their future. During this time, the simple act of being able to choose their own outfit day-after-day is the only control they have. This simple act, that most of us take for granted, gives them a sense of value, worth, and self-expression.

Together, we can restore dignity to children in foster care through the gift of clothing. The impact of your donation is immeasurable -- in their darkest hour, we will show them THEY MATTER by wrapping them in kindness they will never forget

OUR PROGRAMS

Clothing "Bundle" Program

Our flagship program, providing a complete clothing kit to children newly arrived in foster care anywhere in the State of NH. We pre-build clothing kits in every size so we can have the right size, ready to go at a moment's notice. Each kit contains a full week's worth of basic everyday clothing, similar to what most families purchase at the beginning of a school year. While the majority of the bundle is built with excellent quality pre-worn clothing, we add New Underwear, New Socks, New Pajamas, and at least 2 New Outfits to every kit. Kits also contain sneakers, and seasonal items such as boots, jackets, snowpants, and more.

Clothing kits are provided to the child free of charge.

For Goodness Thrift

During the process of collecting and sorting gently-used clothing to serve our primary mission (our "Bundle" Program), we come across wonderful items that just miss the mark when it comes to the specific "recipe" of clothing we include in our clothing kits. To put these items to the best use, we created an online thrift shop!

Items are available to be purchased by the public with 100% of sales benefitting our programs, helping us serve even more children in need.

Or, visit us in-person at our shop located at

1230 White Mountain Highway, Ossipee, NH

Open Tues. and Sat. 10AM-2PM

The Pass Along Project Gift Fund

For children arriving in foster care between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's too late to be included in most other "Gift Giving" programs -- their sign-up deadlines have passed.

Our Gift Fund program ensures these late arrivals receive gifts on Christmas. By creating a fund, instead of a toy drive, we're able to purchase the actual items the child wishes to receive, making their holiday even more special.

Testimonials

"A few years ago, I took an infant and toddler in as an emergency placement with about an hour's notice. They arrived in soiled diapers and with nobody available to help me, I had no choice but to bring all 3 of my little kids and my 2 new foster babes to the store for diapers. Almost immediately, the traumatized toddler ran screaming and crying across the store towards the entrance. I had to abandon the baby in the cart and my 3 little to chase him down before he got to the parking lot. Everyone stared at me like I was a horrible mother. It was a horribly upsetting trip to the store for all 6 of us. How I WISH The Pass Along Project existed back then and had showed up at my door with clothes and diapers in those first few hours!"

Foster Mom K.

"As foster parents we sometimes see and hear about a lot of bad things, but then there are some incredibly good things we experience along the way. The Pass Along Project is one of the very good things! Thank you to (the team) who delivered a bundle of amazing things for my new placement, after working all day and in the rain. (They) made sure we were ready and that helped me support our placement. I am very grateful for the work they do. Thank you!"

Foster Mom A.H.

"Can we just have a moment of appreciation for The Pass Along Project? I had a very last-minute placement arrive last week and they were fantastic about delivering items in their size quickly! Each kiddo got plenty of clothes, socks, a pair of shoes, pull ups, a handmade blanket, and probably more I'm forgetting. The kids came with very little summer clothing and this was a huge help. Thank you to The Pass Along Project!"

Foster Mom B.K.

FAQS

Why do the kids come with nothing?

Children enter foster care through no fault of their own, usually as a result of findings of severe abuse or neglect. The emergency court order is to remove the child, and does not allow authorities to rummage around the home to pack a bag for the child. In many cases, the child is too young or too emotional to pack a bag on their own. In other cases, children are removed while at school or enter foster care without direct access to their belongings. In severe cases, the neglect is such that the children have nothing to bring.

Doesn't the State provide them with clothing?

In the State of NH, Foster Parents are responsible for clothing the children in their care. And, while foster parents are provided with a daily stipend to help offset the costs involved with caring for a child, it's not enough to cover the "up-front" costs of purchasing enough clothing for a child arriving with nothing. In a private study, we found that foster parents were spending an average of $400 to outfit a single child with only the basics for one week. Now imagine the call was for a sibling group of 3! Our clothing bundles provide this basic wardrobe free of charge to foster families, helping them say "YES" to helping a child who needs a safe home without concern of financial impact.

What barriers do Foster Families face when trying to outfit a child?

When a foster family says "yes" to providing a safe home for a child, there are many barriers that exist when it comes to outfitting that child. This is a partial list of the circumstances that may exist, which make it difficult to provide this basic need in the first couple of days:

1.) The child often arrives in less than an hour! When a child needs emergency removal, case workers frantically call down the list of available foster parents. When one says "yes", they say "great, we're on our way!"

2.) Sizes are often not known until the child arrives

3.) In some cases, children were not wearing shoes when they were removed. "No shoes, no service" -- this makes it difficult to bring the child to the store.

4.) The child has just experienced a traumatic event -- the last thing they want to do is shop.

5.) You're a stranger! They just lost everything, and they just met you! How are they supposed to trust you enough to get in your car and go to the store?

Our program alleviates most of these issues by delivering a basic wardrobe to the foster family's door, usually within a few hours of receiving a clothing request. They simply fill out a request online with the size(s) they need and their address -- so simple it can be done in 30 seconds from their phone. Our kits are pre-built so they're ready for delivery right away!

Who pays for the clothing kit?

Clothing kits are sponsored by individuals like YOU! With your support, we can continue to provide clothing kits to children in foster care FREE of charge. While most of the clothing in the kit is gently-used, each kit costs our organization around $150 to produce. This covers the costs involved with collecting massive amounts of used clothing, sorting the clothing donations, supplying the new items for each package (nobody wants used underwear y'all!) and materials needed to package the kits. Your monetary donation in any amount helps us to be able to continue to serve more and more children each year.

OUR EVENTS

Our Impact & Organization Needs

The Pass Along Project is proudly serving nearly 600 children per year Statewide.

Our goal is to grow to serve all 1500 children estimated to be in NH foster care, then open our services to help the 15,000 children estimated to be living in relative-care in our state.

To grow our project and expand our mission, we need FUNDING!

While our primary need has been clothing -- we've gotten really good at spreading the word for collecting clothing donations, and you all have been AMAZING with this!

At the volume needed to serve 600+ children per year, our operation needs the continuity and stability of having paid staff. With employees, we could establish "Business Hours" at our warehouse, currently run by a few volunteers who are trusted key holders. By having consistent hours of operation, we can coordinate and utilize more volunteers to handle a greater production volume to serve more children.

Currently, most of our followers think of us for donating clothing, and while this continues to be a need, we would like to invite you to also consider us for monetary donations.

Each clothing kit we deliver has a production cost of approximately $150, and is given free of charge to the child in need. While we've had some amazing corporate sponsors and received some incredible grant opportunities over the years, often these gifts are limited to a single eligibility or funds are restricted and cannot be used to pay operating costs such as Rent, Insurance, Utilities, and Staff.

So, we invite you to become a monthly donor or to create a fundraiser of your own with the link below. Lemonade Stand, Ice Bath Challenge, Dog Walking Challenge....you could do ANYTHING to raise funds to help us reach more children in need. It's for the kids!