Posted: Tuesday, December 02, 2014

#GivingTuesday

Imagine being unable to provide your child with presents or a warm meal during the holidays.  For many of our clients, this hypothetical could come to fruition: over 80% of people served by The Providence Center have annual household incomes below $10,000.

Fortunately, over the last two decades the parishioners of St. Teresa’s Parish in Pawtucket have annually donated approximately $5,000 worth of food, clothing, and other essential items to the children and families in our programs.

St. Teresa’s holiday clothing drive is organized by parishioner and TPC board member Don Barbeau.  The clothes donated by the congregation are made available to the parents of children in TPC programs.  The parents can look though the items and select pieces to take home and give to their children during the holidays.

Last week, Don and his son Greg delivered the boxes of new children’s clothes to TPC’s Early Childhood Institute (ECI) on behalf of the St. Teresa’s community.

“TPC is very near and dear to my heart,” Barbeau said. “Once I learned of the need, I decided to start the clothing drive; I knew the people of St. Teresa’s would be excited to help. When we first started, I didn’t know how much we would raise but every year people continue to donate, it’s really great to see.”

Simmy Carter, associate director of the ECI, was there to welcome the Barbeaus and expressed her sincere gratitude for the generosity of St. Teresa's parishioners.

“We’re very lucky to get these donations,” Carter said. “It means so much to our parents to be able to give their children nice, new clothes during this time of year.”