Clothing for youths in need

GIVING BACK: Co-founded by Eva-Marie Mancuso, left, and Marianne M. Baldwin, Clothes to Kids Rhode Island is a nonprofit that collects new and gently used clothing for children in Providence County schools. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
GIVING BACK: Co-founded by Eva-Marie Mancuso, left, and Marianne M. Baldwin, Clothes to Kids Rhode Island is a nonprofit that collects new and gently used clothing for children in Providence County schools. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Eva-Marie Mancuso, a former state Board of Education head, knew that childhood poverty was affecting the self-esteem of students in Rhode Island schools.

Together with her longtime friend and fellow attorney, Marianne M. Baldwin, she opened a store that provides one solution. Clothes to Kids Rhode Island, which opened last summer in Providence, is a nonprofit that collects and distributes new and gently used clothing for school-aged children and teens.

The children qualify if they receive a free or reduced-price lunch, receive social services, or are experiencing crises due to natural disaster or displacement. Twice a year, each child can shop by appointment for up to five complete outfits, including shoes and coats. The service is currently limited to children in Providence County.

The idea is to give children from families with low incomes school-ready outfits, picked out by them in a boutique-shopping experience.

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“We want them to have a great shopping experience,” Mancuso said. •

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