Cradles to Crayons

MISSION: Founded in 2002, Cradles to Crayons (C2C) is an innovative Massachusetts non-profit that provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive - at home, at school and at play. We supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need. DESCRIPTION: Cradles to Crayons grassroots process begins by engaging neighborhood and corporate communities to host children’s product collections on our behalf. Donated items are dropped off at our “Giving Factory” warehouse, where volunteers of all ages and walks of life come together to inspect, sort, and package new and like-new donations into “C2C KidPacks”. KidPacks, which are filled with clothing, books, toys, arts & crafts and often birthday presents, are then picked up and delivered, at no cost to the families we serve, through collaborating with a network of more than 300 social service partners across the Commonwealth. IMPACT: Since our inception, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than 153,000 backpacks and 300,000 packages of essential items to children across Massachusetts. In 2012, we plan to engage more than 25,000 volunteers in our Giving Factory while mobilizing more than 1,000 community collection drives to fill 30,000 new backpacks and distribute 60,000 packages for local children.