Help Us End Clothing Insecurity!
20 million kids across the U.S. lack access to affordable, appropriate clothing.
Join us in our mission to #EndClothingInsecurity so one day all children will have the essentials they need for a safe and healthy childhood.
For more than two decades, you’ve helped build a community-powered model that makes high-quality clothing accessible for kids who need it most, with dignity at its core. Now, we’re sharing what comes next. Cradles to Crayons has officially launched our Strategic Plan, Every Child Deserves to Thrive: Closing the Clothing Gap by 2031 — and we want you to be part of it.
With 800,000+ volunteers and partners behind us, our five-year plan will double our impact.
We’re Making a Difference in Children’s Lives.
Cradles to Crayons was founded on the philosophy that unused resources should be redistributed to the places they are needed most.
Families struggling to pay for rent and groceries often cannot afford anything else. Basic items for their children—properly fitting outfits for school, diapers, a backpack, shoes, pajamas, a coat for cold weather—are simply not possible.
Cradles to Crayons’ mission and model enable our volunteers and donors to turn compassion into action and provide the essential items children need to thrive at school, participate fully in life, and simply be a kid.
Find a Local Dropoff
With supporters across the United States, Cradles to Crayons works to fight Children’s Clothing Insecurity directly in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia and focuses on raising awareness about this urgent crisis nationally.
Since 2002, we have supplied nearly six million packages of basic essentials like clothing, shoes, diapers, and school supplies to children who don’t have access to these critical resources. You can help us provide everyday essentials to local children in need by finding a local drop off near you.
Fund the Cause
Just $33 serves one child head-to-toe.
Financial support from individuals, families, and companies sustains our work year round.
Volunteer in the Giving Factory
We work with tens of thousands of families, individuals, community groups, and corporate volunteers in our Giving Factories and at community-based events to provide more than 500,000 packages of essential items to children every year.
Learn How You Can Help
Host a Local Drive
In households across your community, there are closets, drawers and shelves full of new or like-new children’s clothes and books that are not being used.
By hosting a product collection drive for Cradles to Crayons, either in-house or out in the community, you help get these items to kids who desperately need them.
Mission Moments
Hear from our community, see our impact, and discover the stories that drive our mission.
How to Organize a Clothing Drive for Local Kids
There are children across the country currently facing clothing insecurity, lacking access to...
Nonprofits Are Sitting on a Powerful Antidote to America’s Loneliness Epidemic
To read the full article:...
Five Reflections from My First Year
My first full year at Cradles to Crayons® has left me with plenty of perspective. Our community...
Our Service Partners
Our network of social service partners is a crucial link to the families and children we serve. We are committed to making our collaborative process as easy and streamlined as possible.
