BY CHARLEE BEASOR
PLAINFIELD — Every year during the holidays there are groups that purchase food or toys for needy families in the county.
One county-wide group works year-round to raise money to shop for children in the county that are in need of basic clothing items.
The Hendricks County Marketing Division, made up of real estate agents, bankers, title company employees, and others, works throughout the year raising money to spend at Kohl’s department store here for as many children as they can.
This year, they are helping 386 children with basic necessities. Volunteers spent the day Wednesday at Kohl’s shopping for the children and were able to spend $59 per child.
Jane Defield with Carpenter Realty said the group has been doing Clothe-A-Child for 20 years.
“Last year we had 330 kids; this year we have 386 kids,” she said. “We get names from all the schools in Hendricks County, so we know there is a need there. We’re spending $20,000 today, and we try to do a little bit for Sheltering Wings and the Med Van. All year we’re fundraising money.”
Defield said the schools supply the names of children in need of basic clothing items.
“If there are younger kids at home, we do the whole family,” she said. “We don’t just want one child to have a Christmas while the other children don’t.”
Defield said the group works with Kohl’s every year. They started out shopping at the store in Speedway, but moved to Plainfield when Kohl’s opened a store there.
“Kohl’s has been so great to us,” she said.
Defield stands at the front of the store with the names of the children that will be receiving clothing. Each school fills out a size chart for the children so the volunteer shoppers know what to purchase.
“If they need a coat, get that first, then shoes next, and then fill with the rest, but don’t go over $59,” she tells one shopper. “We need to stay within $59.”
Defield said there have been times when a school representative will inform her of another family or two that are in need.
“I’ve usually come back and shopped for kids up to Christmas Eve,” she said. “It’s just so rewarding. One year there was a family in Coatesville ... and we dug stuff out of the freezer for them and took it over. Our main focus is clothing, but one lady cooked a turkey and brought it over to a family one year.”
She said the group is usually able to spend more money per child, but because the need was so great this year, the resources were spread a little thinner.
“This year we knew we were really going to get hit,” Defield said. “This year we were so short on funds.”
The group holds bowl-a-thon, barbecue, and golf outing fundraisers throughout the year.
Connie Dixon, a mortgage banker for PNC Mortgage, comes to shop every year.
“It’s just about giving back, it’s just that simple,” she said. “I got here at 7:30 a.m. and I’ve shopped for six kids in that time frame (at 9:30 a.m.). A little bit is better than nothing. We all do so much during the year, it’s all about giving back.”
charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com
