TFG Charity of the Month

GOOD NIGHT
THE PAJAMA PROGRAM DELIVERS WARM SLEEPWEAR AND NURTURING BOOKS TO
CHILDREN IN NEED, HELPING THEM TO SLEEP TIGHT—REST ASSURED

As parents, we're all familiar with the requisite evening routine: dinner, bath, book and bed. Some days we
rush through it in an effort to get onto the next batch of duties (dishes, laundry, phone calls, emails or ten
minutes of quiet time with our mates); some days we relish the precious time with our children, knowing that
our days of parenting little ones are numbered. But most days, we take for granted the fact that our children
have the essentials (parents, food, pajamas, books and bed) for these nighttime to-dos.

Genevieve Piturro, for one, never would have thought that childhood basics like sleepwear and books would be foreign objects to children right here in America.

Pajama Program Logo

“During my volunteering days of 2001, I visited a center in Harlem for children with no fathers and whose mothers are in prison. I brought with me 12 pairs of pajamas to give out. As the children came into the room, each child chose the pair he or she wanted. After a few minutes, one little girl came over to me.

'What are these?' she quietly asked
'They’re pajamas,' I answered her.
'Where do I wear them?'
I answered, 'To bed at night.'
She looked at me, puzzled.
'What do you usually wear to bed?' I asked her.
'My pants,' she said quietly.

My heart sank. It was at that moment that I knew I had found my true purpose in life—and it drives me day and night,” says Piturro, who used the experience to launch the Pajama Program, an organization that provides new pajamas and books to children in need, many of whom are waiting to be adopted.

“We started our program because many of the children we serve don’t have clean clothes at all— much less for clean pajamas to change into at night. Many children don’t have a loving mother and father to tuck them into bed at night to make them feel loved and secure. Additionally, often these children have missed school for some time, so their reading falls below grade level. These children are frightened and cold. Our new pajamas are like a hug and the books are given to them to help them conjure comforting pictures in their minds before sleep,” Piturro says of the mission behind her blossoming six-year-old non-profit with 55 regional chapters nationwide. The organization has even expanded its operations to include all children in need due to the staggering number of those living below the poverty level. At present, Pajama Program serves children in the foster care system waiting for a home, living in group homes, living in shelters with or without a family member and children who have been rescued from abusive and neglected circumstances and are receiving treatment and support.

“There are more than 500,000 children in the foster care system in the U.S. and more than one million children who are not living with their natural parents. As a result many of these children have been through great socio-economic upheaval and psychological trauma. In addition to their need for warm sleepwear, some have fallen behind in their reading skills and no longer have access to books to read on a regular basis. They have been removed from school for months at a time with no continuation of their reading practice. We intend to raise $1.7 million in 2008 to serve more than 40,000 children through all of our Pajama Program Reading Centers and chapters,” Piturro tells us.

Pajama Program also works with many agencies and organizations across the country, including New Haven Home Recovery in Connecticut, La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois and Northwest Children's Outreach in Portland, Oregon, and sends pajamas and books to in-need children in other countries like Armenia, Columbia, Greece and Uganda.

“We visit so many children who have recently been removed from abusive and neglectful home situations. One such child was a five-year-old boy named Joshua who we met when he was sent to a temporary children’s group home facility while a judge decided his future living quarters. When we delivered pajamas and books to this group home, we saw Joshua smuggling armfuls of girls, size three, pajamas under his bed. Why? Because his mother repeatedly burned his little sister with her cigarettes until someone finally came and took the children out of her care. His sister was in ICU and he wanted to make sure she got her PJs so that she would be warm at night. The need is just so great—how can you not respond?,” Piturro asks.

Here’s how you can make a big difference:

	Join. There are 55 chapters of Pajama Program nationwide. Here's a link to find one near you: http://www.pajamaprogram.org/chapters.html
	Donate. Give new pajamas, new books or a monetary donation online, over the phone or by mail. Here's a link to find out more: http://www.pajamaprogram.org/donate.html
	Host. Throw a PJ Drive and Event in your hometown.
	Give good gifts. Not sure what to get those people in your life who have everything. Make donations in their honor for their birthdays, holidays or other special occasions.
	Educate Yourself. Find out more about a Receiving Organization in Need (ROIN), a licensed shelter, group home, orphanage or foster care facility, near you.
	Support. If you're in the greater Palm Beach area, look into attending Pajama Program's February event. For more events across the country, go to http://www.pajamaprogram.org/events.html

For more information, go to www.pajamaprogram.org.

THE FAMILY GROOVE donates a percentage of its revenue to its featured Charity of the Month.