Prolonged power outage damages back-to-school efforts

Dear Note in the Pocket supporters,

It is with a heavy heart that I share some recent struggles we are facing at Note in the Pocket. This could not have happened at a worse time with children beginning a new school year.

Hurricane Debby caused a leak in the roof at our Wake location on Thursday, August 8th, resulting in a damaged transformer. We have been without consistent power since. Today, Monday, August 26, is the 16th day we have been unable to consistently process clothing donations and build wardrobes for our children headed back to school.

August is the beginning of Note in the Pocket’s heaviest clothing request time. Last August we received 1557 clothing requests and numbers will remain high through the end of the year. We have suffered the loss of hundreds of hours of volunteer support and have had to cancel hundreds of volunteers needed to process clothing donations to continuously restock our shelves with clothes for the children.

Our team is brilliant in a crisis, and believe me when I tell you we are in a crisis. While without power, our staff and a very small team of volunteers have accepted clothing donations in the dark, processed clothing outside in tents, and our amazing fulfillment team has built wardrobes as quickly as they can under the most dire circumstances imaginable. We are unsure when the power will be completely restored and allow us to get back to work full-time.

We need YOUR help! This is not a short-term problem.

We have created a NITP Recovery Fund that will be used to accelerate our ability to catch up on clothing requests in whatever ways that may be.

This strategy includes being able to offer extra volunteer shifts, and purchasing clothes and shoes in bulk to increase needed stock on the shelves, and all the supplies and people needed to make this happen over the next 4 months.

Please consider making a one-time gift to our NITP Recovery Fund TODAY to help us do what needs to be done to overcome this immediate crisis.

Other ways you can help:

Schedule to host a Clothing Drive in your neighborhood, workplace, place of worship, civic group, club or sports team between now and the end of the year.

A steady stream of clothing will be needed for the thousands of clothing requests that will be coming in through the end of the year and into 2025.

Schedule to come Volunteer individually or as a group;as soon as the power is back on and all systems have been inspected, we will need volunteers ready to help right away and through the end of the year.

Or, consider joining our Confidence Club monthly donor program NOW – where a gift of any size supports the work of Note in the Pocket, and the children and families we clothe with dignity and love, each month.

Friends, I have great faith that we will not only recover from this but become stronger than ever. I prefer to look at this crisis as both a learning opportunity and for our community to come together for the children who need us most.

Thank you in advance for your help! With your help, we’ve got this!
Dallas