The Sharing Shelf will co-host a free national forum on clothing insecurity on Tuesday, Sept. 15, moderated by CNN anchor Erica Hill.
The virtual event runs from noon to 1 p.m. ET on Zoom. It falls on National Clothing Insecurity Awareness Day.
The Sharing Shelf is a Westchester County clothing bank for children founded in 2009.
The nonprofit serves low-income children and teens across the county, including families in Scarsdale, Bronxville and Eastchester. It is organizing the forum alongside Note in the Pocket, a clothing bank serving Durham and Wake County, North Carolina.
The forum is titled "The Missing Basic Need: What Clothing Insecurity Reveals About America's Affordability Crisis."
Erica Hill, a CNN anchor and national correspondent whose poverty coverage has been recognized by the Peabody Awards, will lead a conversation with Deborah Blatt, founder and executive director of The Sharing Shelf, and Megan Steinke-Chase, executive director of Note in the Pocket. The public can submit questions during the event.
The forum will spotlight results from what The Sharing Shelf describes as the first national survey of its kind, covering 30 clothing banks across 17 states. The survey results are scheduled for release one week before the forum, according to the Yonkers Times.
Clothing insecurity means a child lacks sufficient, clean, seasonal and size-appropriate clothing. An estimated two in five American children are affected, according to a figure cited by CrisisAssistance.org.
"Children are missing school and missing out on important parts of childhood because they do not have clothing or a pair of shoes," Blatt said in a Sept. 4 statement announcing the forum.
Steinke-Chase said in the same announcement that the challenge is too large for any single organization but that communities across the country are stepping up with donations of clothing, time and money.
The forum is free and open to the public. Registration is available at The Sharing Shelf's forum page.
Coming up
- National survey results from 30 clothing banks expected the week of Sept. 8
- National Clothing Insecurity Awareness Day and virtual forum: Tuesday, Sept. 15, noon ET
