WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Hope's Closet volunteers work to provide foster children with new clothes and school supplies, but the nonprofit said it is struggling to keep up with the high demand for backpacks during the back-to-school season.
Lora Domeck has been volunteering for the past five years, trying to make sure each foster child has new clothes and shoes.
"It's a really big inundated process, I think they said 150 kids this month," Domeck said.
It's typical for the nonprofit to be busy this time of year with school starting soon and new placements in the foster care system.
Domeck said it's rewarding to see kids' faces light up as they shop for the clothes they want.
WATCH: We went inside Hope's Closet to see how volunteers are helping foster children
"But then you have some kids who come and they don't have a lot where they're coming from, they're so excited, you know, they think that everything is so nice and they're really grateful," Domeck said.
The biggest need this time of year is backpacks. Hope's Closet is taking donations for backpacks so they can fill them up with school supplies.
"We can't do that unless people are kind enough to donate, bring in school supplies," volunteer Judie Seitz said.
Executive director Ryan Craig said the need is so high they struggle to keep up, and a simple donation of a backpack and school supplies does a lot for a child in need.
"We just don't have enough backpacks to keep up, and we want to make sure that we can give a brand new high-quality backpack to every kid that comes here and shops," Craig said.
Donations can be dropped off at Hope's Closet Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to noon.
