EAGAN, Minn. — Three months ago, the shelves inside Kaitlyn's Kloset were growing bare, and so the founder of the Eagan nonprofit decided to bare her soul.
"This is it," said Kaitlyn Stock, as she showed KARE 11 her shelves. "I was in tears all day just feeling like this weight was hanging on me. I couldn't serve the clients."
In addition to sharing the scope of the problem on television, Stock made the difficult decision to close her doors temporarily. In the week that followed, she asked the community for help re-stocking her shelves in order to meet escalating demand.
It didn't take long for the help to arrive. That weekend, a parade of cars flooded their small donation center with bags and boxes full of children's clothing, baby supplies and non-perishable food.
"At one point here, during our Saturday donation drive, we had 48 volunteers," Stock said. "And we could have used another 48."
In weeks since, Stock said the flood of goodwill has overwhelmed her heart and her walls.
"We are busting at the seams here," she said on Wednesday, pointing to the full shelves all around her. "We actually are utilizing another space just down the road to hold some back stock items right now. We physically cannot take in anything else right now in here."
She says none of it will sit for long. That's because the exposure didn't just lead to more donations, it also created an even bigger surge in demand.
"Before we spoke, we weren't serving many clients, maybe 15 or 30 in a week," Stock said. "Now we're serving 30 plus a day."
And she says everyone who comes in looking for children's clothing or diapers, is also often looking for culturally-specific food.
"Corn tortillas are the number one thing that we see people wanting," she said. "As soon as they get put on the shelf, they are taken away."
That's where a new $18,000 grant comes in.
"This will be used for funding a new program that we are so glad to bring into 2024," Stock said. "It's called 'Food for All.' It's really going to create a diverse shopping experience here, thank you from the bottom of my heart."
The grant came from IFC National Marketing, on behalf of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies.
"I can't imagine a better way to start the year than to offer something like this to you," said Todd Villeneuve, managing partner of IFC National Marketing. "We're getting grants from AIG and these companies and they're hoping we can distribute it to our local communities."
But even at a time when many non-profits are reporting struggles meeting growing demand, Villeneuve says they see a surprising lack of grant applications.
"To any other nonprofits out there, I would say, 'If you need help, ask,'" Villeneuve said. "We have people who can walk you through the application process."
Kaitlyn is certainly grateful she asked for help.
"I went out and I was vulnerable and I said, 'I need help and I'm struggling,'" she said. "It's funny because that's what the families that come here are doing, and I never look down on them when asking for help. So when I went on and I said I need help, I need my community to come out, they did."
If you're interested in donating to Kaitlyn's Kloset, please note the following notice of a temporary change in currently accepted donations at the Resource Center.
As of Jan. 3rd, 2024 we are only accepting:
- Children’s size snow-pants, boots, coats, and gloves
- New with tags children’s clothes and shoes (New only)
- Nonperishable food, personal care and household cleaning items (nothing opened/used)
This temporary pause is to allow us to better serve our clients, to catch up on inventory, and to focus on projects we have pushed aside.
If you have a nonprofit and are interested in the grants offered through IFC National Marketing and the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, please click here for more information.
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