Free shopping experience opens for children in Mishawaka

This week Christ Child Society hosts families at the center in Mishawaka for a free shopping experience.

For more than 70 years the organization has used back to school week has a time to clothe children that have an economic disadvantage.

“Christ Child Society clothes children who are most in need in our society. We clothe those children from birth through at 14. We wanna. Make sure that they are well prepared for school and for their futures and that they feel good about themselves in their brand new clothes.” Susan Wendowski, Christ Child Outreach Coordinator said.

The process starts with social service agencies that refer families to Christ Child and help with setting up an appointment to get their bundle of supplies.

“So they go from new clothing where they get 7 new pairs of underwear, 7 new pairs of socks. They get a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, the jeans or the joggers or the leggings. If they go to school where uniforms are required they also get a uniform pant and shirt to go with that. They get a stuffed animal, they get a pair of pajamas. They go to new shoes. They get a brand new pair of shoes that fits their color their style .” Wendowski said.

Style is an emphasis for the clothing distribution. The money raised goes towards brand new shoes, pants, shirts and underwear so that each child can be the first to wear their wardrobe.

“At Halloween in October we always have some costumes that somebody has dropped off. And there have been so many times the kid “mom mom that’s my favorite” or “I want this I want that” especially the girls with the princesses from Disney. And they put those on and they’re busy twirling and they’re busy showing off. And they make those smiles and we just love it.” Wendowski said.

The age range is newborn to 14 years old, but parents also have a rack to try from during this experience. Suits, dresses and other necessities are free to the guardians as their children go through the assortment of goods brought to them in a red wagon.

“Every family gets a number. And they take a little red wagon and go all around our facility, it’s a nice little circle. They go to every window for every department and pick up the items that match their number. They put it in this little red wagon they are pulling behind them. We gather all together at the end and then we arrive to the end at the back of the center and pick up their bag of clothing and items, which will be the shoes, the dental supplies.” Wendowski said.

Tables of library books and toothbrushes are the last stop, topping off the pile of take-home goods.

But the giving doesn’t stop after high school graduation. Christ Child offers a scholarship program to every child and parent that’s ever come by for clothes.

“And they get X amount of dollars every year. They have to keep applying every year, but they can get that money to help them through school. And quite a few have come back and say “you know, that was a life saver’ .So one of ours actually went through four years, got a masters degree in social work and now she has come back and she refers people for us here because she knows exactly what we have.” Wendowski said.

The need continues to grow, every year thousands benefit from the center, and more are expected this year.

“So for example last year we clothed almost, I mean we were very close 5,000 children. And it’s going up because the cost of everything is going up. The cost of food is going up. I mean we see all these commercials about kids not having enough food, and kids are being sent home on weekends with bags of food to help feed them” Wendowski said.