Donation helps fill emergency clothes closet

When workers of Peterson Beckner Industries heard the Sweetwater County Foster Care program's emergency clothes closet was running low, they made it their mission to restock it. With a donation of over $5,000 worth of pajamas, socks, underwear and jackets, they accomplished that mission.

"It was very, very generous," Emilia Slater, the Foster Care Coordinator at the Department of Family Services, said.

Slater explained the donation included items that aren't often thought of but are needed.

"We get blankets from Project Linus and bags from UW, so we typically have quite a bit of stuff donated, but some of the stuff we never usually get new that's kind of a challenge is socks and underwear, because those are kind of size-specific, and nobody wants to wear used socks and underwear," Slater said.

Another challenge regarding donations came from the COVID-19 pandemic, which put a stop to accepting donations and added extra hurdles in accepting used clothing which needed to be laundered.

To address these concerns, PBI donated brand new clothing items for boys and girls in multiple sizes. The donations will fill the emergency clothes closet - a small room in the back of the Department of Family Services office that holds clothing items for any child in foster care who needs them.

"It's been there since I started 13 years ago, so it's been around for a really long time," Slater said. She explained many foster children are placed with relatives or friends who are able to get the clothing the child already owns. However, some children enter foster care with nothing, and some are removed from situations that make it impossible to take their possessions, such as when a child is removed from a home with methamphetamine. In these situations, supplies from the emergency clothes closet are used to provide a few outfits and necessities for the child to get them through until the foster parents are able to provide more.

"It's been really nice, when we get kids who don't have anything, to be able to give them a little bit of clothing," Slater said.

Although the emergency clothes closet often doesn't have an abundance of clothing, the donation from PBI, which included over 15 totes full of clothing, should keep it stocked for some time.

"It was a lot," Slater said appreciatively.

Nicki Parker, PBI's administrative assistant, explained the clothing donation exceeded the original goal of $5,000 by reaching a total of $5,400.

"It was so nice for the community and our friends and affiliates to step up and help," Parker said.

PBI is a steel erection company from Houston, Texas, currently working at the Genesis Alkali Granger facility on a project that will last until spring. The donation to Sweetwater County Foster Care is the second community donation PBI has made in their time in the community.

PBI President Lance Beckner said the company seeks to make an impact on lives in Sweetwater County as PBI works at the Genesis-Alkalai Granger project.

"My hope through this community outreach is to inspire others to make an impact on those in need, to take to heart the quote from Scott Adams: 'Remember there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end,'" he said in a statement.