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!