We have a “Clothing Closet” at our church. It is dedicated to providing clothing for children living in foster care. It is a rather large room with floor to ceiling shelves with clothing racks in the middle. Generous members of our church started the closet and built the shelves and donated the racks for organization. I regularly go down to the room in our church and organize, pick up, and refold or hang items that have fallen from the racks. Over the last two years since its beginning, I have noticed something that really bothers me. I hate to be negative, but I just have to say this!
IF YOU WOULDN’T PUT YOUR CHILD IN IT, THEN DON’T DONATE IT TO FOSTER CHILDREN!!!!!
Now, to be fair, I often find $100 jackets with the tags still attached or shoes that I would never buy myself because I can feed a family of 6 for a week with that money. But, today when I went down there I found trash! Literally, clothing with blood and poop stains. Dog hair, grass stains, rips, and missing pieces. Do the people who donated these things not have trash pick up? Do they actually believe that me, a foster mama, would even for one split second consider putting the precious child entrusted to my care in one of these outfits? I took a trash bag and did what needs to be done with articles of clothing that look like this. I threw them away! Goodbye clothing with actual mold residue! Goodbye pants with no button and ripped knees! Goodbye, poop stained onesies! Goodbye!
Because, what a child who is living in foster care deserves is the best! They deserve our firsts, not our throw aways! They deserve love and kindness, protection and fun! They deserve more than what I saw in that room! They deserve more!
Keeping Calm While Daddy is Gone 