How It Began

KIDS Foundation, Inc. informally began Thanksgiving 1987 when my sister, then a principal at a local elementary school, told us about one of the children that had come to school that week wearing shoes with the toes and heels cut out and tied to his feet because his shoes were so small.  As we gazed at our Thanksgiving table filled with food, we decided we had to do something.  My sister said she could identify the really needy children if we could find someone who wanted to help them.

So began KIDS Foundation. The Foundation was formally established as a tax-free organization in 1989 with a goal to provide clothing and toys to under-privileged school children during the holiday season. The project grew from 118 children in 1987 to over 300 children in 1996.  The needs grow each year and so have those that want to be involved and help these children.

How It Works

We have identified seven elementary schools for help.  The principal of the school, working with the individual teachers, identifies children who are really needy—children with inadequate basic clothing such as underwear, shoes, coats, etc. With the parents’ permission, a picture of the child is obtained, if possible, and a letter is written to “Santa” to tell you something about the child. All children in a family are included in the project so no one will be left out.

We will send you a picture (if at all possible), the child’s letter to Santa, and the child’s sizes and/or special request for toys.  After you shop for the child and wrap the gifts, you can bring them to our office or we will pick them up.  We ask you to “bag” then gifts in a trash bag and attach a standardized form that we will supply to you that identifies the contents of the bag.  This is important, as our goal is to see that each child has two school outfits, underwear, two or three toys, and a coat and shoes, if needed.  We keep extra clothing on hand to supplement the gifts to meet this goal.

After collecting all of the gifts from the donors, the school sends a truck to collect the gifts from us.  The parents pick up the gifts at the school, or we deliver them to the child’s home prior to Christmas.  When the child wakes up on Christmas morning, Santa has come to visit!

To comply with IRS regulations we ask you to provide us the amount you spent on the project so that we can provide you with a letter from the Foundation supporting your contribution.

-Rebecca Teague

 Back