On January29th, Mickey Cockrell founder of Catie’s Closet, addressed the Rotary Club of Nashua, regarding Catie’s Closet, a free in-school store for clothing and essentials established in honor of Mickey’s niece Catie. Catie passed away in 2010 after countless procedures and during her illness had been so impressed with the numbers of children in the Merrimack Valley were either homeless or without proper clothing that she brought this to the attention of her mother and her aunt Mickey and as a result they founded Catie’s Closet.
The problem as described by Mickey at our meeting is that for the first time in 50 years a majority of U.S. public school’s students came from low-income families, many living under the poverty line. Many lack access to clothing and basic essentials, a primary reason for absenteeism. When kids don’t show up to school they are more likely to underperform and drop out. Catie’s Closet provides an in school resource of clothing and basic necessities to low-income students. Having appropriate clothing boosts student’ self-esteem and alleviates the visible burden of poverty. As a result, students are more likely to stay in school and focus on their education, rather than worrying about fitting in.
Catie’s Closet supports 30,000 students on a daily basis. Schools with Catie’s Closets report improved attendance rates of 17.8% and improved graduation rates at 21%. Catie’s Closet uses a hub distribution center model where clothing donations are collected, sorted and allocated to Catie’s Closets within the area. They currently operate one distribution center in Dracut, Ma to serve 50 schools in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. To achieve their ambitious growth goals Catie’s Closet is seeking donors to invest in scaling up their current model and capabilities. Mickey’s presentation led to many questions being asked by our club members and an immediate commitment by many of our Rotarians to make generous donations immediately to hopefully fully fund a Catie’s Closet in Nashua.
The meeting was ended and the presentation made by our guest speaker certainly hit home with all of us and brought a realization to us we hadn’t appreciated about how many children in our own town and state are in such jeopardy.