Q13 News teams up with Treehouse for Virtual Supply Drive on Wednesday

Q13 News, Your Education Destination, is proud to support children in foster care who need some extra help preparing for the 2020-2021 school year.

Q13 News is hosting a one-day virutal supply drive on Wednesday, Sept. 2 to benefit Treehouse, a Seattle-based non- profit that serves foster children across the state. The program needs help raising money to continue providing resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back-to-school shopping is something many children in foster care look forward to every year. This year, however, in order to maintain safe distance, students sent their wish list to volunteers to shop for them.

“They need clothes to make them feel great, so that they can be prepared for school. They need school supplies and books and things to support their education. And we want to help be part of that resource,” said Victoria Kutasz, program manager for material resources at Treehouse.

Treehouse offers several free services for children in foster care in Washington. From tutors, to job shadows and even shopping at the Treehouse store, the services are provided at no costs to the students. All of the resources help kids be successful at school–whether it’s in a classroom or online.

“A lot of our youth in foster care have a few more barriers in front of them than a lot of other kids. And so, everything that we can do in the community to get rid of a couple of those barriers, like access to school supplies and access to new clothes, are things that we should do and community supporting Treehouse can make that easier for them,” said Spencer Sheridan, event coordinator at Treehouse

Community support is what Treehouse staff said they need now more than ever. Donations to serve children slowed during the pandemic, though their need remained. Q13 News is collaborating to help raise money towards the program’s mission.

“It helps us keep the lights on and keep this program running, but it also helps us fund specific needs when we’re out of a certain type of item that we see high demand for,” said Kutasz.

“Community support is essential to continue our mission to making sure kids have the things they need and to set them on the right path for high school graduation,” said Sheridan.

Those interested in supporting can donate online or text 'TREEHOUSE' TO 24587.

Many of the children Treehouse serves has overcome adversity before. With the community’s help, the non-profit wants to continue supporting them during these unprecedented times.

“We’ll get through to tomorrow and that things may feel really rough right now, but we are all in this together. And we are here to support them, we are here to navigate those challenges,” said Kutasz.