Give Where You Live: Why I Joined the Kidz Closet Charities Board
I’ve always believed the right outfit can change your whole day. Not because of the label or the price tag, but because of how it makes you feel when you walk out the door: confident, ready, like yourself. That belief is a big part of why my co-founders and I built BONNEE. It’s also why I said yes, with my whole heart, when Kidz Closet Charities invited me to join their Board of Directors.
After nearly two decades in Miami raising my daughter (who is now in college), I decided to move back to my hometown of Vero Beach. Coming home has felt like slipping on a favorite jacket you forgot you had. Familiar, comfortable, and somehow even better than you remembered. After settling in, I had hoped to find a way to give back to the community that shaped me. Then along came Kidz Closet Charities and the opportunity to join the board.
Kidz Closet provides emergency clothing and essentials to children and families in need across Indian River County. Born out of Kidz Closet Consignment in 2008, it has been showing up for local families ever since. Donations of new and gently used clothing, shoes, and essentials are inspected, cataloged, and stored at our Vero Beach facility. When a vetted social service partner sends in an order, volunteers fill it with the right sizes and age-appropriate pieces, usually within 48 hours. That means hundreds of families each year get what they need, fast. And because we’re all-volunteer, every dollar donated goes straight to keeping the lights on and sourcing critical items.
What truly won me over, though, is how we do it. Our mission promises to serve families in ways that support their dignity and are environmentally friendly. Dignity and sustainability, side by side. That’s my language, and it’s BONNEE’s language too.
At BONNEE, we believe everyone deserves to love the way they look and express who they are through their style. Getting dressed is one of the first things we do each day, and it shapes how we carry ourselves through everything that follows. For a kid, that matters even more. Sneakers that actually fit. A clean school uniform ready on Monday morning. Jeans that don’t need to be cuffed three times. These things sound small, but they’re the difference between a child walking into class worried about how they look and one walking in ready to learn, play, and just be a kid.
Kidz Closet understands that clothing is about so much more than fabric. So do we.
Think about a dress that’s been hanging untouched in your closet for a year. It isn’t doing anyone any good. But in someone else’s hands, it’s brand new: a first-day-of-school outfit, a birthday party look, a confidence boost. That’s the whole idea behind BONNEE. You post the pieces you’re not wearing, earn Swap Coins, and claim something new to you from anyone on the platform. Your closet becomes your currency. Kidz Closet takes that same spirit of circulation and points it straight at the kids and families who need it most. Different models, same heartbeat: clothes deserve to be worn, and people deserve to feel good in them.
Joining the Kidz Closet board has me thinking about the full life of a garment. Swap it. Love it. Swap it again. And when the time is right, especially with kids’ clothes that get outgrown at lightning speed, pass it on to someone who needs it.
That’s why I’m so excited that BONNEE will soon offer kids’ clothing in the app. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when your kids outgrow their clothes, you will now be able to swap for the next size up in the app. And wherever you are, I hope you find an organization that moves you like Kidz Closet moves me and get involved.
Because it’s not either/or. It’s all about keeping good clothes in motion.