ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Rock Island non-profit Closet2Closet celebrated 10 years of service, thanking the community for its support.
The family-run organization helps homeless and foster kids by handing out clothing and supplies.
On June 25, volunteers, donors and supporters gathered at the Riverfront Grille to celebrate with food, music and a raffle.
Co-founders and twin sisters Amy and Amber Haskell recalled how it all began.
"We were in seventh grade, eighth grade and we were having a clothing drive at our school," Amber said. "We ended up getting 2,000 items of clothing, and that's how it ended up being a non-profit."
The sisters struggled as foster kids themselves before being adopted, with family being supportive of Closet2Closet from the beginning.
"My parents have always been very passionate about foster care, foster kids and children," Amber said. "It's definitely a good feeling to be able to give back to the individuals that we once were," Amy added.
Throughout the years, the family has pitched in, such as younger brother Liam Haskell.
"Knowing my sisters and knowing what they went through in the system — I'm very intimately familiar with the struggles that foster children go through," Liam said. "It just means the world to me to be able to help a group that is often overlooked."
The family is thankful for community support, as they regularly get individual volunteers and groups from local schools and businesses.
"We'll have like a group of high school students from national honor society for sports teams, or maybe a John Deere facility group come and help," Amber said.
The family said this has lead to year after year growth.
"Our first year in 2013, we served 55 foster children, and in 2022 we served over 1,400," Liam said. This year, we have already served a good 1,400 as well."
The family's next goal is to better server younger kids, from infant to elementary school ages. Mother Allison Haskell said their non-profit usually focuses on pre-teen and teenage children, but that demand for the younger age range soared since the COVID pandemic.
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