Whether held at home, school, or in the workplace, individuals and groups of all sizes can organize a Donation Drive to collect items for Comfort Cases. A Donation Drive is a fun, simple way to engage your community. No matter the size of your effort, you can impact the lives of children in foster care.
Why do you only accept new items?
The majority of children in foster care are removed from their homes due to neglect. Most are given a trash bag to carry what few belongings they might have. Many have never been given a new stuffed animal of their very own. Many have never worn a brand new pair of pajamas or wrapped themselves up in a cozy new blanket. Many do not even own a toothbrush. Receiving new items tells children in foster care that they matter and that people in their community care about them.
Why are Donation Drives so important?
Donation Drives bring in the items we need to pack Comfort Cases for youth in foster care. You can collect new pajamas, blankets, backpacks, stuffed animals, journals, activity books, and more. Donation Drives allow us to obtain a variety of items that ensure our Comfort Cases are as unique as each child in foster care.
How do I get the items to you?
If you’re in the DC, Maryland, or Virginia area, you can deliver everything to our national center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. We also welcome supporters who want to make a road trip from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and beyond. We are happy to make arrangements for you to drop off Donation Drive items, tour our center, and even pack a Comfort Case or two!
If you’re far away, you can ship donated items through GiveBackBox. We have partnered with GiveBackBox to provide $20 shipping labels for boxes up to 70 pounds to be sent via UPS.
What items should I collect?
We periodically update our Donation Drive list to reflect our inventory needs. You can collect all of these items or focus on one or just a few. We ask that toiletries be travel-size due to the fact that we ship the majority of our Comfort Cases to partner agencies all over the country and the full-size items are heavy, can spill, and often do not fit well inside a backpack with the other items. Here is a printable version of the list, and we are happy to create a customized one specific to the items you would like to collect.
Please register your Donation Drive using the form below.
We will be in touch soon, and thank you for supporting Comfort Cases!
Not ready to host a Donation Drive yet?
There are many others ways you can support us no matter where you live!