The Reno Rodeo Foundation’s annual Denim Drive returns November 14 through December 31 for its 17th year of collecting monetary and clothing donations across 14 Northern Nevada counties to support abused and neglected infants, children and teens who have been rescued from unfit homes.
Supporting businesses have until Oct. 21 to register as a 2022 Denim Drive sponsor or collection location partner.
Businesses can sign up to have clothing collection bins placed at their location or they can collect monetary donations with the Denim Drive’s “Donate a Dollar for Denim” pockets.
Reno Rodeo Foundation's Executive Director, Clara Andriola, says that monetary donations make the biggest impact because it allows the organization and its partners to purchase exactly what is needed when it’s needed.
“The 2020 COVID pandemic presented some big challenges, but it also presented some new opportunities,” said Andriola.
“With shelter-in-place orders and social distancing, we needed to adapt the way we distributed items. Now our social workers use Reno Rodeo Foundation purchase cards to buy new clothing and hygiene items to meet our Denim Drive kids’ immediate needs.”
These funds allow the Reno Rodeo Foundation and its partners to provide support around the clock and tailor each donation to make sure it is exactly right for each child.
“Our social workers and caseworkers tell us that letting these kids pick out their own clothes makes a huge impact on their wellbeing,” said Andriola “It boosts their confidence, makes them feel cared for and lets them express their own individual style. It’s so much more than meeting a basic need – it’s helping them fit in and feel normal at a time when everything they know and own has been ripped away from them.”
Businesses can support the Denim Drive by sponsoring, partnering or donating at renorodeofoundation.org.
The sponsorship and participation registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 21.
