HELPFUL TIPS when donating your used kids clothing

While sorting through donated clothing the last couple of days I thought it might be handy to share some helpful tips when packing up your used items.

We appreciate your donations very much! Children grow quickly and so many clothing items have great life in them. Foster parents are in the trenches caring for and loving children who may only be with them a short time. Your donations provide a sense of security for a child at a time when everything is crumbling around them.

 Remember...your donations go to the most vulnerable, children who have been removed from their home suddenly and placed with total strangers. 

Try not to donate items such as:

1. Stained items.  It's super easy to miss light stains on clothing. Try to inspect your clothing in bright, natural light. Heavy soiled items just make it harder for volunteers to sort and it takes time away from helping families in need by making us search for a suitable donation site which accepts unusable clothing. Ask yourself if your child would feel secure and happy wearing the clothing? If not, please recycle.
2. Pet hair. Many people have allergies. Please consider when donating items covered in pet hair and launder if possible.
3. Rips & Holes. Again, it is easy to miss slight flaws, but consider a different option for those ripped jeans. Rips and holes violate many school dress codes. 
4. Sports team uniforms. No, I'm not talking NFL or MLB, I mean little juniors pee wee soccer uniforms or club sports clothing. 
5. Camp t shirts and vacation t shirts. Yes, you and your family had a blast at Daytona Beach! It's your family memory. Consider keeping it and making a memory quilt.
6. Incomplete sets such as pajamas with missing tops/bottoms.
7. Used undies. While many organizations DO accept used undergarments, we do not. We want to be sensitive to the trauma a child who comes into care is going through. Brand new undies are purchased with monetary donations and included with items we deliver to families.
8. Out of style clothing. If you are just getting around to to donating your "baby's" clothing and your "baby" is in college, consider other places of donations for your items. Current styles are very important for children to feel secure with their peers.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS OF NEW AND LIKE NEW/GENTLY WORN CLOTHING! WITH OUT YOUR DONATIONS OUR WORK WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE.

To learn more about children and trauma please visit: http://empoweredtoconnect.org/

Matthew 25:40New International Version (NIV)

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

An upside down world

This is the start of a new blog which will be posted on the website of Equipping the Called.  My name is Chris, my wife Julie and I, who’ve been married for almost 25 years, began our adoption journey three years ago. We have two home grown (biological) children, two adopted, and another waiting to come home next year.   I am a soon to be 51 year old retiree from the Illinois State Police, I love to hunt, I love to ride my Harley, I love my family, but most importantly I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There it is, I’ve laid it all out on the line, if any of the aforementioned offended you, I suggest you stop reading now.  As for the rest of you, this hunting, riding, family man who loves Jesus will be sharing stories about children in crisis, adoption and foster care.  I have no desire to become rich because I already am.  Well, not rich monetarily, but rich with family and friends, rich with children, rich with my love for Christ, and I really do have a pretty nice Harley in the garage.

                There’s no pressure here, this is just my first blog for the website.  What should I write about, what do I share with you to make those of you I haven’t offended continue to want to read what I have to say.  Fortunately for me, my youngest son Isaac, who has special needs, fell off the couch the night before last while doing one of his famous dives.  Before you call children services, please know at the time of Isaac’s fall my heart was broken.  I reached for his chubby little ankle to catch him, but I was too late (stupid 51 year old reflexes.)    For those of you who don’t know Isaac, he was born with albinism and is sight impaired he is also the cutest boy to ever come out of China. So how does this help me write a blog you ask?   Easy, like I tell people, God’s always talking, you just have to take the time listen.  No, God didn’t toss Isaac off the couch so I could have a blog topic, but there is a parallel to Isaac’s fall and the story of adoption.

                As I stated earlier, Isaac is sight impaired, it brings him stability and great joy to be turned upside down.  I’m not a doctor, but somehow being upside down helps with his vision.  Many of us often go through life being sight impaired and don’t even know it.  We have different types of calamities occurring around us but somehow manage, or, choose not to see it.  It’s better to be blind and not know than to have your eyes opened and feel responsible about doing something.  You see I was blind for practically my entire life, I saw terrible things as a police officer, but really didn’t see what was happening.  On more than one occasion I picked up a toddler in East St. Louis to comfort them.  One time I had my picture made with a little girl, but it stopped there.  I felt really good about myself after this particular picture because it was posted in a State Police magazine, look at me, I held a toddler from the inner city, I must really care!  I could not see the entire picture, I was sight impaired. 

                Three years ago, God spoke to me.  No, there was no burning bush, no booming voice from the sky, but He spoke to me just the same.  He put adoption on my heart and soon it was on Julie’s heart.  We adopted my youngest daughter Ellie, followed by Isaac, and soon, Sophie.  All three have special needs, they have stolen my heart.  Three years ago God removed my blinders by turning me and my family upside down.  Like other sight impaired people, I soon found out being upside down provided me with peace, tranquility, and calm.  Being upside down provided me with the greatest joy anyone could ever know this side of heaven. Looking back being right side up seems so wrong.  You see we can keep our eyes closed posing for the photo ops in life, or, you can dive off the couch like Isaac and discover how great it is to have your world turned upside down by God’s greatest gift to us, adoption.