The Giving Closet Project, Inc.

The Giving Closet Project (GCP), established in 2016, provides clothing and hygiene products to students in need, elevating their self-esteem and dignity. Its vision is to reduce barriers to student success, including bullying, chronic absenteeism, and the inability to focus in the classroom.

Headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, GCP serves children in both Duval and Palm Beach counties. A teacher-created nonprofit that focuses on supporting students and educators with providing them with free clothing and basic essentials throughout the school year.

Imagine an 8-year-old wanting to skip school only because their clothes are filthy and have not been washed in weeks or months.

A special needs student who comes to school without socks or underwear under her jeans, which hurts and makes her walk slow and awkwardly because she is in pain. A student whose mom is a victim of domestic violence and she needs hygiene products, including tampons. These are just a few of the children that GCP has helped recently.

We break down barriers of poverty by providing K-12 students with clothing and other basic essentials through online referrals that are accessed by educators, school counselors, and social workers.

A grassroots organization, GCP is a one-stop shop for educators and school communities, making sure students' basic needs are met throughout the school year. We are unique in Florida, and as such, GCP partners with numerous social service agencies, schools, teachers, social workers, case managers, and other referring partners throughout Palm Beach County.

The Essential Angels Program is a referral-based care package distribution system that provides clothing, hygiene items, and more to students in grades Pre-K through 12. Teachers, social workers, and other service agencies identify students in need and refer them to the program through our online portal. The program provides one month’s worth of hygiene products, a week’s worth of clothes, along with shoes and a backpack to students in grades Pre-K through 12 who are experiencing homelessness and/or persistent or situational poverty via a referral-based care-package distribution system.

Care Packages are valued at approximately $150 per student and include:
• 3 - 5 outfits (shirt/shorts/pants)
• 3 - 5 pairs of new socks
• 3 pairs of new underwear
• 1-2 pairs of shoes (1 pair of sneakers, and 1 other type of shoe: dress shoe, sandals, etc.)