The Friendship House Clothing Bank School Uniform Program is gearing up for its 4th consecutive year of distributing free, good-quality polo shirts and khaki uniform pants to public schools in Delaware. With support from the Laffey-McHugh Foundation, we piloted this program in 2020 with 1 school and provided 400 uniform items to support 75 students. Last fall, we gave 8,500 uniform items across 15 public schools to support 3,500 students! It was a record-breaking year as we doubled our reach from 2021. We were able to do this with the generosity and support of our community. Thank you for ensuring students are equipped with necessary clothing to show up to school ready to learn!

Several public schools in Delaware require students to wear a solid-color polo shirt with khaki or navy blue uniform pants to create equality and a dress code standard for all students. However, many families find it difficult to afford a special set of clothing for their children to attend school. Students not in uniform can face in-school consequences such as missing class, standing out from their peers, or even possibly being sent home which can put them at a disadvantage. This is why FH believes it is important every child has proper clothing for their school ensuring they are set up for success.

FH partners directly with the school by providing the school with items that fit their dress code. We work with principals, school administrators, or school counselors to assess the needs of their students. While we’re not able to provide a school uniform for every student, we ensure uniform items are available to families in the most need. Latoya Irving, Richardson Park Elementary School Counselor, share’s what this means to the many families she works with. “It means a lot for our families, especially being a Title 1 school, where we have so many families in need who can’t afford ongoing expenses such as food let alone uniform requirements. It’s so helpful that kids are given clean uniforms that they can wear daily to school.” We have provided school uniform items to Richardson Park Elementary since the fall of 2021.

We can’t do this alone. This fall, we’re hoping to collect and distribute 10,000 uniform items and we need your help! We are looking to collect new or gently used solid-color polo shirts and khaki or navy blue uniform pants of all sizes (youth and adult).

If you don’t have uniform items to donate, click here for our registries!

The Friendship House Clothing Bank School Uniform Initiative was developed out of an identified need in our community as the many impacts of the pandemic began to surface. One of these impacts is the barrier for families to provide their children with the necessary items to be successful in the classroom due to their financial situation. The consequences can be significant when they show up to school out of dress code. In some instances they can miss class time or face disciplinary actions to rectify the issue. We are working hard to ensure that students have access to proper dress code items, like school uniforms, regardless of their financial situation. No child should be singled out because they do not have access to a basic need.

There are students in Delaware public schools who are struggling to obtain the required dress code uniform: solid color polo shirt and khaki/navy pant. In collaboration with school district personnel, principals, resource counselors, and other administrators we are working to meet the needs of the community. For the upcoming school year, we will be providing 2,000 students, throughout 5 targeted schools in the Red Clay Consolidated School District, with uniform items.

One of our participating schools for the 2021-2022 school year is Emaela P. Warner Elementary School. They are a Title I Community School within the City of Wilmington, serving a large population of students and families on the North and West sides of Wilmington. Jolisa Baker, Site Coordinator for Warner Elementary, explained that, “For Warner, the [School] Uniform Initiative will help several families send their children to school in their uniform at the beginning of the year and throughout the year.”

“Warner Elementary is very grateful for the Friendship House School Uniform Initiative and [we] look forward to participating every year!” – Jolisa Baker

Because of you, we have 2,500 uniform items in our inventory! These items will be distributed to the schools at the end of August. But this is just the start! Each year our initiative will grow, and we will continue expanding our reach until we are able to ensure every student in Delaware has a school uniform. Our vision is large, but we are committed to do what it takes; your loving support is what will help us reach this goal.

For more information and ways to help, please click here.

In fall 2020, we launched a uniform initiative providing 400 uniform items to Evan G. Shortlidge Academy. Our goal is to expand this effort so no student in New Castle County will have to worry about having adequate or clean uniforms to wear to school. In fall 2021, we plan to redistribute 10,000 uniform items to 2,000 children.

We need your help! If your club, organization, company, faith community, or family and friends are looking to get involved in your community, please consider hosting a school uniform drive this spring or summer! Contact Cassandra Bryant for your uniform drive promotion kit. For more information about this initiative please click here.

The uniform items we are looking for include; clean new or gently used white/navy/light blue polos and khaki/navy pants & skirts, youth sizes; 3T-20. Donations can be brought in tied plastic bags to our Clothing Bank, located at 1603 Jessup St. Wilmington, DE 19802. Please label the bag with ‘uniform’. The Clothing Bank is open Monday-Thursday from 8:30am to 2:00pm. Anything you can donate will help equip students with a necessity. We’re so grateful for your loving support!