STUART, Fla. — It's an unfortunate fact that thousands of children in Martin County can't afford clothing which takes a toll on self-esteem—enter the non-profit Caring Children Clothing Children (4Cs).
Gigi Suntum is the organization's executive director and she said that they make tangible impacts through their efforts. In the last fiscal year, Suntum said they had around 4,400 visits to the store and over 800 in August alone because of back to school.
"[Our organization] helps with the child building their self-esteem, so they feel better about going to school and about how they look and they look more like their friends and that makes them a little bit more comfortable. Also, the other things we really help families with are financial stability, a lot of things that they pay for in a given month are very expensive, their rent, childcare, transportation if we can save them money on the clothing budget for their children. We feel really good about that," said Suntum.
4Cs does provide brand new items.
"Everything in the store is gently used except for we do provide new underwear and socks and shoes for the kids and we do that does come out of our annual budget. So that's pretty much why we're trying to raise money through our golf tournament," said Suntum.
4Cs has a mobile van so they can go out into the community, Indiantown for example, and provide clothing to people in need.
"We decided that we really needed to go out to the community and do more for the people that can't get here because of their work schedules or lack of transportation. So now we partner with a lot of area nonprofits and other organizations. We take our van out very often and it's been a blessing for us," Suntrum said.
4Cs said they have donation stations all over Martin County and could really use items for young men.
"We really are desperate for having boys pants and certain sizes like middle school size pants and shirts for boys," said Suntrum.
Caring Children Clothing Children, The 4Cs
7985 SW Jack James Dr, Stuart, FL 34997
(772) 221-8777