“Clothe-A-Kid was not what I expected. From start to finish God did what He wanted to do.  Somewhere in the early stages of the preparation process I decided I was going to get out of his way.” – Heather, Co-Clearinghouse Coordinator

For instance, our preparations started in April because getting an early start is what you want to do right! Right? Absolutely not! Who does that anymore? In fact, phone calls and inquiries about Clothe-A-Kid didn’t happen until late May. Not only did they start late, they wouldn’t stop until days after the last day to shop.  Shopping ended on July 25, 2024. What?!   You know what though? Here’s what’s important, the need presented itself and God empowered every volunteer, donor and staff member with the ability to provide continued service.

The process for Clothe-A-Kid began with an on-line application and the number increased as we approached the deadline. Once the application was submitted, it would be reviewed by the Clearinghouse to distinguish new clients from returning clients. All new clients are required to go through our Intake/verification process. This process requires obtaining general information about the parent(s), the child, and a little bit about the hardship they’re facing in life at the current time. Next, all Intakes went through a review process for approval/disapproval. Finally, the information was entered into our software system that’s used to manage the outreach services provided to the community.

Once approved, families were off to Pay Station. On July 16, 2024 the line began to form outside of Hope Lutheran’s Central campus. Each family patiently waited to pay their $10 investment per child which would go towards the $100 that would be received to shop for each child. Volunteers inside and outside of the Clearinghouse teamed together to make Pay Station a smooth and enjoyable experience for families. To ensure no hiccups with our new Intake process, we brought laptops, Intake forms, pens, paper, etc. You name it, we had it and we needed it. It was nice to finally put a name to a face and have a face to face conversation rather than over the phone. The hand-shakes, the hugs, and the eye contact made our tangible experience of serving others come to a place of gratitude.

Finally, the shopping is complete but there’s still work to do. Next year has already been a topic of discussion. How can we do this better? What worked well? What was a complete fail? For the next three weeks the Clearinghouse will be busy with compiling data to answer these types of questions as we manage data entry and follow-up calls because we expect next year to be even better. 

Heather