RALEIGH, N.C. — Charities across North Carolina are participating in the global movement, Giving Tuesday.
What You Need To Know
- Giving Tuesday is an annual, global event in November
- A report from North Carolina’s Charitable Solicitation Licensing Division shows that fundraisers are down $10.8 million in the 2020-2021 fiscal year from the previous year
- Note in the Pocket is one participating nonprofit in the Triangle
The day is dedicated to giving back to the community by raising money, volunteering and doing a simple act of kindness for organizations.
This year, Note in the Pocket, a nonprofit located in Raleigh that provides wardrobes for the homeless and children living below the poverty level, is launching "Giving Shoesday." The idea is to help children put their best foot forward.
Each donation to Note in the Pocket will help provide a new pair of shoes to children in need in Wake County.
Sarah Caldwell is the development director for Note In The Pocket.
“It’s very important that we keep our shelves filled with quality, well-fitting shoes for students in need,” Caldwell said.
On an average year, the organization donates roughly 200,000 pounds of clothing to in-need children and their families. In 2020, they were able to provide a wardrobe for more than 5,000 children.
Caldwell says they work with the Wake County Public Schools System to make it all possible.
“The school social workers or case managers will identify a child that’s in need of clothing. They submit a clothing request to us that has the child’s age, their gender, their clothing size, their likes, their dislikes, and then our volunteers will put together and assemble those mini wardrobes of clothing and then it's distributed to the school social worker or case manager,” Caldwell said.
Note in the Pocket was founded in 2005 by a first-year school teacher in Wake County when she noticed her students coming to school cold and without winter coats in the winter.
“We continue to put a note in each of the clothing bundles for our children and families that says 'you are loved,'” Caldwell said.
Nonprofits like Note in the Pocket rely heavily on volunteers. Over the last year, Note in the Pocket was able to expand their facility at their donation center in Raleigh.
“We are doubling our program capacity. We’ve more than doubled our shelves, which allows our volunteers to fill the clothing requests as quickly as possible,” Caldwell said.
Mike Kovac is one of nearly 2,000 Volunteers at Note in the Pocket.
“I’m mister shoe man. I have a pile of shoes here to process, I go look at them and make sure they’re not too worn out, I match them up for size and by sex,” Kovac said.
Kovac has been volunteering for three years. He says he likes the mission of the organization.
“I just know that somebody is going to get shoes that didn’t have them before,” Kovac said.
Volunteers also make wardrobes for the child’s family. Each item that is donated is carefully inspected to ensure it’s like new. It’s a part of the organization’s goal to provide clothes that kids can feel proud to wear and empower them to succeed.
This year, Note in the Pocket’s goal is to be able to provide clothing wardrobes to 6,000 children.
Organizations participating in Giving Tuesday:
-CASA
-Children’s Home Society of North Carolina
-Interfaith Prison Ministry For Women