The Pajama Program: Providing Good Nights

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The Little Lake County Gives Back program is a community outreach effort to connect not-for-profit organizations with our readers.

My favorite time of day is bedtime.

Our family is finally calm, quiet and my children are ready to snuggle up with their pajamas, stuffed animals, and a good book.

Stop. Think. What if your children didn’t have a loving bedtime routine?

Pajama Program – Good Nights are Good Days

Genevieve Piturro realized many children go to bed lonely, cold, and forgotten. In the United States, 1 in 45 children are homeless and 800, 000 children are in foster care. Some children are so traumatized, they don’t make it through the night without an accident, so they need more than one pair of pajamas.

Genevieve started the Pajama Program in 2001, a 501(c)(3) non-for-profit that provides new pajamas and books to children in need. The program is on track to reach its goal of one million pairs of pajamas and one million books by the end of December 2015. Please take a few minutes to learn more about this terrific program and watch the Pajama Program video.

Pajama Program provides new pajamas and new books to children in need nationwide, many of whom are waiting to be adopted. These children live in group homes, shelters, and temporary housing facilities and are shuffled often from one place to another. Many of them have been abandoned, abused, or neglected. Most of these children have never enjoyed the simple comfort of having a parent tuck them in at bedtime with warm, clean pajamas and a bedtime story. Some of the children are living with their families below the poverty level, in desperate need of food, clothing, and shelter. These two simple gifts of pajamas and books let the children know that someone cares – sometimes these are the only new things they have ever received.
Pajama Program’s mission (from its website):

Every child should end their day with, “okay, get your pajamas on, and I’ll be right in to read you a story.” Children in transition seldom hear these comforting words.

Photo Source: Pajama Program on Facebook

What are you going to do to help? Please share this story, and if you’re able, donate time and money to the Pajama Program. And if you see some great sales on pajamas while you’re holiday shopping, pick up a few extra pairs and make one child’s dreams a little sweeter.

If you would like to host a pajama drive of your own, please contact the Lake County and Western Chapter of the Pajama Program.