WHY GET INVOLVED?
TOGETHER, WE CAN AND WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Join us in supporting those who cannot provide for themselves; children and animals in need.
BIGGER THAN YOU
FOOD DRIVES
The Henry and Clark Foundation is committed to helping those who can not help themselves. Based on statistics from multiple sources, including the USDA, there are far too many children who go without a meal. Hardest hit are areas indicated in darker blue (graph). As lifetime residents of Kentucky, we believe that together we can make a difference. Our food drives will go to children in areas where the need is greatest.
- Regionally, the food insecurity rate was highest in the South (12.0 percent) than in the Northeast (10.2 percent), Midwest (10.8 percent), and West (10.4 percent).
- 6.0 million children lived in food-insecure households in which children, along with adults, were food insecure.
- 540,000 children (0.7 percent of the Nation’s children) lived in households in which one or more child experienced very low food security.
BACKPACK DRIVES
There are approximately 437,283 children living in foster care.
Children are removed from their homes for a variety of reasons. Neglect, parental drug abuse, caretaker inability to cope, physical abuse, housing issues, parental incarceration, parental alcohol abuse, abandonment, sexual abuse, parental death and more.
When children are removed from their home, transferred from one foster care residence to another, they are often given minutes to gather belongings. Oftentimes, these children arrive at their newest home with a plastic grocery bag filled with the few belongings they can call their own.
Haven’t these children been through enough without having further dignity stripped from them?
The backpack drives will have three areas of impact:
- Foster care agencies will be offered new and/or very gently used backpacks to afford children the opportunity to not only have an addition item that is theirs, but to also afford them a level of dignity during these transitions.
- Many children leave school on a Friday afternoon knowing there is no food in their home. They will go without any meals until they return to school on Monday. Fill a child’s backpack with food for an entire weekend.
- At the start of each school season, there are thousands of children who are unable to purchase the supplies required to provide them with the tools needed for a successful education.
The Henry and Clark Foundation will work diligently to make a difference in the lives of children impacted by these circumstances.
TOY DRIVES
We recently had the opportunity to donate stuffed animals to our county jail’s SMILE program, where little visitors will be given a stuffed animal and a book when they visit their loved ones. We made a difference together, and will continue to do so!
The children who are going home from school on a Friday, the same children shuttled through the foster care system through no fault of their own… these are more than likely the same children who will spend the holiday season without a present to open. The same children who don’t have a toy box. The same children who will fall behind in their education without proper tools to be challenged, stimulated and inspired. Toy Drives are a way to bring a smile to these children through some of the darkest days they may experience. Something as simple as a dollar store toy can brighten the day for a child.
ANIMAL DRIVES
We all know there are humane societies working diligently to protect the lives of domestic animals from dogs and cats to rabbits and horses. Many of these same humane societies experience frequent shortages of supplies for animals. Food is not the only item they require. They also need beds to lay in; straw for some, blankets for others. Our marine life and wild life experience emergency situations as well.
Spay/Neuter programs need to be supported as well.
Through our animal drives, we strive to make an impact on the quality of life for any animal in need we can support through this foundation.
- Approximately 6-8 million cats and dogs enter shelters each year.
- Approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized each year.
