Can you imagine not knowing where you will lay your head tonight? Or tomorrow night? Or next week? What if you had to leave all belongings behind when you were evicted because you had no space to call your own? What if you were a young child in this situation and you left behind a favorite toy or blanket? Not to mention your favorite bedtime books
It can be hard for some of us to imagine, but every year over 2 million children will face a period of homelessness in the United States. Many of these children come directly from an emergency situation such as domestic violence, extreme poverty, or disaster. Most of them have only the clothes on their backs. Often they go unseen because they move from shelter to shelter, stay in a car or hotel, or stay with extended family until forced to move on. We may not see them walking the streets but they are out there somewhere.
Each child that grows up in this unstable environment is predictably affected by the stress of it. What’s not hard to imagine is that this stress can often lead to an increase in anxiety, depression, poor sleep habits, and behavioral issues at 2 to 3 times the rate of children living in homes. Wouldn’t it be great to help relieve these children in a tangible way?
That’s why I have chosen to donate to Project Night Night. Project Night Night knows that every child needs a concrete and predictable sense of security which is so hard for a homeless family to provide for their children. They have come up with a material way to comfort a homeless child so that he feels a little more loved, a little more secure, and a little more valued. I love what they are doing and I want to tell you all about them.
A Night Night Package for Every Homeless Child
Project Night Night seeks to help homeless children have sweeter dreams by providing free Night Night Packages to each and every homeless child in the U.S. from birth to pre-teen. Each Night Night Package contains a new security blanket, an age-appropriate children’s book, and a like-new or new stuffed animal — all nestled inside of a new canvas tote bag. On average 25,000 Night Night Packages are distributed each year! Since 2005 over 250,000 children’s books have been donated!
The Children
Every child who receives one of their Night Night Packages leaves the shelter owning a book which encourages reading and family bonding as well as an opportunity for the child to develop vital language and imagination skills. They also receive a new, cuddly security blanket to help them feel cozy and secure in unfamiliar surroundings. Lastly, they receive a stuffed animal which can ease the anxiety associated with being homeless as well promote a sense of ownership that gets lost when forced out of a home.
Project Night Night reaches these children through homeless shelters all across the nation. See this map to learn where they are involved in a shelter near you. Night Night packages are assembled by over 10,000 volunteers across the country each year. People like you from neighborhoods, workplaces, scout troops, churches, and schools buy or collect items to fill up the signature canvas tote bags, and then deliver the Night Night packages to homeless children staying in shelters in the local area.
The Mission
Project Night Night has one objective – to deliver their Night Night Packages to every homeless child in the country. Their passion is to build a concrete sense of security through the items in the package as well as increase exposure to high-quality literacy materials. Children at risk often suffer academically, emotionally, mentally, and physically. The Night Night Package is just one step in the right direction for these children.
Education and Environment
The children’s literature distributed by Project Night Night is hand-picked and age-appropriate so that children are exposed to high-quality, age-appropriate literature – even in this time of transition. The Project chooses from like-new, donated books and new or like-new stuffed animals in an effort to support the environment and can boast that since 2005 they have reused 50,000 books and stuffed animals! I love it when a project like this is a WIN from multiple perspectives.
My Involvement
You can see why I would want to be involved with this terrific mission! When I launched The Gentle Sleep and Parenting Center to complement our Gentle Sleep Secrets Courses, we also launched a partnership with Project Night Night. We are committing to getting the word out about what they do as well as donate regularly from our Help Center’s proceeds to Project Night Night.
The more people we help with their child’s sleep needs through the Help Center, the more we are able to help Project Night Night meet the needs of children at risk who need the extra care and security right now.
You, Too!
When you purchase a gentle sleep coaching package from The Gentle Sleep and Parenting Center we will make a donation to Project Night Night—it’s a win-win! You get a good night’s sleep and you help a child at risk.
If you would like to make an additional donation to help ease the trauma of shelter living for a child, then get to know what Project Night Night is doing at their website, http://www.projectnightnight.org/.
Wonder how you can be involved personally with Project Night Night? You can volunteer your time like the 10,000 other volunteers so far. You can donate items according to their current needs. Or you can donate monetarily. Any kind of support is greatly appreciated.
Take some time at project Night Night to get to know their heart for homeless children and their fabulous organization. I bet you will become convinced like I have, that this is a project worth the investment.
Contact Info:
Main Office, San Francisco
Kendra Robins
Project Night Night
415-310-0360
Kendra@ProjectNightNight.org
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