Clothing Our Kids relies entirely on donations of clothing, cash or grants to make this possible. If a business, house of worship, social organization or community organization would like to help by either donating funds or organizing a clothing drive, we would be extremely grateful. We accept new clothing sizes 4-16. Volunteers will gladly come to pick up any items or donations which have been collected. Many local stores are aware of our program and contact our volunteers when these sales or closeouts are to begin. COK sends volunteers to purchase at that time.

The Clothing Our Kids organization is a local, 100 percent volunteer organization that provides clothing, shoes, and coats to at-risk elementary school children throughout Sussex County at no charge. COK works exclusively with the school nurses at all 33 Sussex County elementary schools. The nurses are the people most familiar with the family histories of these children. Founded in Millsboro in 2012, Clothing Our Kids provided approximately 850 items to 150 students that year. Since that first year, COK has been able to help more than 16,000 kids with over 90,000 items of clothing. Clothing Our Kids never wants to say “No” to an underprivileged child because of lack of resources.

Mary, originally from St. Marys, Pennsylvania, met and married her husband John in 1969. While raising her two children, she maintained a full time career initially as the head teller for a local bank and then eventually as the office manager for a HVAC business. Mary retired in 2006 and the Rios moved to Delaware in 2009 where John accepted a position as an assistant principle at a local elementary school. This move forever changed their lives. One day John told Mary about a young girl at his school who had only one set of clothes that she wore everyday. The Rios helped this child with some new outfits and later learned that this problem was more prevalent in the Sussex County School System than anyone could ever imagine. Mary was now on a mission to help as many of these children as she could. In 2012, she founded “Clothing Our Kids” and operated the newly founded organization out of her home with the help of a few friends. Through her efforts, “Clothing Our Kids” has flourished becoming an award winning 501(c)(3) charity with over 150 volunteers and a permanent volunteer center. Since its inception, over 15,000 kids have been helped with more than 80,000 articles of clothing.