Pajama Program helping children

Boynton Beach - Volunteers hard at work folding and packing new pajama sets for kids. Marion and Susan are volunteers for the local chapter of The Pajama Program. Marion Fitzsimmons said, "We collect new pajamas and new books for children in group homes and shelters in impoverished areas. And we depend solely on drives. We do drives with schools, synagogues, church's, businesses and they just collect pajamas for us."

The national organization, which was started in New York City, has 79 chapters across the country. The pajamas are distributed to children who cannot afford pajamas from babies up to 18 years of age. The program started 10 years ago, how many pajamas have been collected nationally? One million, one million pajamas. That's a lot. It is a lot. So obviously there is a tremendous need for it, and that's why we do what we do."

The local chapter does not have to worry about expenses to store the pajamas before distribution.Renaissance Self Storage in Boynton Beach has donated space for the volunteers to sort through the sleepwear. The Pajama Program also gives the children new books. "We always need volunteers, we always need people to do drives and do collections."

Marion said there is still a need for new pajamas and new books as well. "Bedtime books, story books nursery rhymes. For the older children, novels because they like to read, they don't necessarily need a bedtime book."

Pajama Program
http://www.pajamaprogram.org/Chapters/FL_PalmBeach.html