Boston
Founded in 2002, Cradles to Crayons (C2C) is an innovative Quincy-based nonprofit organization that equips homeless and in-need children with the basic essentials they need to feel safe, warm, ready to learn and valued. While meeting the immediate needs of low-income children, C2C also sets a foundation for lasting change by providing meaningful, tangible volunteer opportunities to thousands of individuals and hundreds of organizations each year.
We recognize and act upon a very simple reality: children often quickly outgrow clothing, books and other items before the items even appear worn or used. Families with this excess don’t want to just discard these “gently-used” items, especially when there is a child who desperately needs them just a few miles away. C2C’s unique business model provides an easy and convenient avenue through which everyday essentials in good to excellent condition can be recycled in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
The C2C model serves as a bridge connecting those who have resources and with those without, breaking down some of the barriers within and between communities. Through this action we are able to simultaneously strengthen and improve several communities at once. Communities who give their time, talent, and treasures are able to feel good about what they have accomplished together, as giving can promote unity and understanding; while communities who receive our services are not only given a package of clothes and books for a child, but are also given dignity and a better chance at success. Through C2C, not only do local children benefit, but entire communities do as well.
The Story
The Cradles to Crayons story began in December 2000, during the Christmas vacation, when Lynn Margherio—a Boston-based business and public-policy consultant who had recently spent several years in Washington working with the Clinton administration—was visiting the homes of her brother and sister in Michigan.
One morning, she was helping a young niece get dressed. As she dug through a dresser drawer to find just the right outfit, she saw some tops and bottoms with price tags still on them. There was the never-worn green top—destined to remain folded forever in the drawer because it wasn't pink—and a pair of size 2T pants that reflected her niece's fashion sense (pink), but already were a size too small.
Later on that same trip, she stopped at her brother's house, where she got involved with an arts-and-crafts project with another niece and nephew in their play room. But to get to get to the table with the glitter, stickers and markers, she had to step over piles of toy trucks, puzzles, and games, and navigate around a plastic kitchen set, an air hockey table, and a train table. (“It looks like our own personal Toys R Us,” she said to herself.) She also noted that despite the profusion of stuff, her niece and nephew tended to gravitate toward one or two favorite toys. The rest were more or less ignored. Later, she saw several unopened presents wind up on the top shelf of a closet.
An idea came to her: What if all of these like-new or never-used children's things could find their way into the homes of other boys and girls—kids who really needed them?
Making it happen in Boston
Back home in Boston, she began taking steps to make that happen. She visited shelters and health centers, asking if they had the resources to help families meet basic needs like clothing. Consistently, the answer was no. Next, she started calling schools and community groups to see if they would be willing collect children's goods. The reaction was almost uniformly positive. So Margherio commandeered some extra office space at the consulting firm where she was a partner, lined the space with shelving and plastic bins from Home Depot, and started going from school to school in a rented truck to collect other people's stuff.
This ad hoc system, mostly invented in real time, slowly gained momentum, and—in 2002—was formally launched as Cradles to Crayons.
A highlight in our recent history came in 2005, when former President Bill Clinton visited the Boston warehouse. In his remarks, Clinton stressed the importance and power of citizen action, calling it “the great hope for our country and the world in the 21st century.”
In 2004, we moved into our current space, a 14,000 square foot warehouse in Quincy known as "The Giving Factory." Our inaugural "A Family Time to Give" event took place in the fall of 2006, which provided winter essentials to thousands of local children while establishing one of the Boston area's most fun and unique fundraising events.
In the summer of 2007, our second Giving Factory opened its doors in Philadelphia. Based on the logistical model established by C2C-Boston, C2C-Philadelphia will reach 10,000 Greater Philadelphia kids in need in 2009. The early success of C2C-Philadelphia is a testament to the scalable and replicable Cradles to Crayons model.
