The statistics surrounding foster care children are as startling as they are sad. According to Dianne Weed, executive director of Venice’s the TWIG (The Way to Inspire and Give), a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of foster children, 50 percent of kids in foster care will not complete high school, and 25 percent will be homeless just four years after leaving the system.
Starting in May 2016, Dianne opened the TWIG boutique. Every second and fourth Saturday of the month, kids in the foster care system and the adults who care for them can come to the TWIG and "shop’"for clothes, all completely free.
“It is our desire to help children in foster care rise above the circumstances they are in today so they can succeed tomorrow,” Dianne says.
Donations are always welcome at the TWIG. Urgent needs include jeans, shoes, underwear, pajamas and clothing for infants. The clothes are new and nice, something many kids in the foster care system would not otherwise receive. At the TWIG, everything about the mission is to show kids in the foster care just how much they are loved.
826 Pinebrook Road, 941.212.3326, TheTwigCares.com
Urgent Needs at the TWIG
Men's boxer briefs (sizes S, M, L and XL)
Boys boxer briefs (sizes 4, 6, 8 and 10)
Boys skinny jeans (sizes 6, 8 and 12)
Infant and toddler socks (boys and girls)
Lightweight toddler pajamas (boys and girls)
Character shoes for little boys and girls (sizes 8, 9, 10 and 11)
Teen and girls underwear (teen sizes S and M, girls sizes 4, 6 and 8)
Hoodies for boys and girls (all sizes)