Donating to Katie’s Closet

Junior Ava Palmer donates over $1,000 of needed items to Katie’s Closet

BY KATHERINE NASH

When school started up on the Hill, juniors were proposed with the idea of creating their own service project. Many students were uneasy because it was the trial year for Andre Projects since they would be the first class to complete it. The idea of planning an act of service by themselves terrified the junior class. In addition, many students struggled to come up with any ideas.

Junior Ava Palmer said, “I was nervous because I didn’t know what topic I was going to pick. I had a lot of ideas.”

Palmer traded off many ideas as she progressed through the early months of the school year. One of the many ideas she initially considered for her Andre Project was collecting books for local libraries. However, as she started planning that project, she was introduced to her current project, which revolves around Katie’s Closet.

Palmer said, “I was going to collect books for libraries, but I'm not as passionate about reading as I am about kids.”

Due to Palmer’s love for children, her mother, Brenda Palmer, suggested the idea for Katie’s closet.

Brenda Palmer said, “I saw a segment on the local news shortly after Ava told me about her project, she was still deciding on an organization. Ava has a passion for kids, especially those in foster care. As soon as I heard there was a need for car seats, I instantly knew it would be a perfect fit for her.”

Katie’s Closet is a boutique for foster kids in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is relatively new as it opened in 2021. Their main focus is providing foster children with the bare necessities. When a child gets removed from a household and gets placed into foster care, Katie’s Closet donates the necessary supplies to these children. They will receive clothes, book bags, and other personal hygiene items. Also, foster children are welcome to come and shop for certain free items at their boutique. Katie’s Closet relies upon the goodwill of the community for donations.

Palmer is not new to donating and helping those in need. Throughout her life her family has been giving gifts to children at Christmas time. Every year at the Palmer’s church they would have a Christmas tree with various handwritten ornaments upon it. The “handwritten ornaments” were actually the Christmas wishes of a child.

Ava said, “Some years we’ve adopted whole families to get presents for. I especially loved it because I want to be a teacher when I’m older, I’ve always kind of had a passion for kids.”

Palmer saw the need for Katie's Closet and put her plan into action. Her first step was setting up her own GoFundMe. She then proceeded to send that link out. This generated over 1000 dollars. With this money, Palmer was able to purchase 10 car seats, over 125 toiletry items, and 12 pairs of pajamas.

Brenda Palmer said, “Ava has worked incredibly hard raising funds and making them go as far as possible. She has learned so much through the process, not only the power of pooling together resources but also, shopping around to get the best deals.”

Palmer said, “They recieve swag packs, and that is what the pjs I bought were for. So that they have a backpack for that one overnight stay when they first get taken out. And then the car seats are also for those emergency situations where it's unexpected.”