STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – The needs of people in our communities just to get by are increasing. While the non-profits working to help those in need are happy to help, they need more resources to continue their missions.
The Kid’s Closet in Stevens Point had a very successful 2024 year. They provide clothes, hygiene products, books, and more to people in Portage County. This year, they helped people 10,000 times. The team never would have guessed numbers would be so high compared to 2023.
“We increased this last year, 61 percent when it comes to the children that we help. 88 percent as far as the adults that we’ve helped. So, we definitely have a major increase and volunteers are emptying that shed like three or four times a day,” Tiffani Mallory, Co-Chair of Evergreen Initiatives, said.
Mallory oversees the Kid’s Closet along with other non-profits in the Stevens Point area. All of them need funding to keep helping the community as needs grow.
“The increase definitely drove up our costs. We definitely do need more funding to keep things going. We don’t just have the Kid’s Closet we also have the Place of Peace meal and the warming center here in our community,” said Mallory.
Mallory says they spend about $100,000 dollars a year to operate.
“We did lose access to one of our grants this year that provided us about $7,000 a year, but we are still trying to figure out how to make ends meet in the meantime,” Mallory said.
Mallory says donations, whether it be monetary or clothing, can be accepted online or at Holy Spirit Parish.
For more information about the Kids Closet and Place of Peace community meal, click here.
To help out in the Stevens Point community, click here.
Click here for more information about Evergreen Initiatives.
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