Care Net gives away children's winter clothes

GREENCASTLE-- Care Net Pregnancy Center of Putnam County is planning an event to help local children keep warm for the rest of the winter.

On Jan. 29, the organization will host a clothing give away at their office in downtown Greencastle at 12 N. Jackson St.

Shelly McFadden, the executive director of Care Net, said that the organization often gives clothing away.

"We do this all the time anyway, we just do it on an individual basis," she said. "We have tons of stuff. We figured it's not doing anybody any good stockpiled.

"There may be some people who don't know that we have that kind of thing available," she continued. "We thought we would try something like this and see if there are people who need winter clothes for their kids."

McFadden said it's important to keep children warm during the winter, especially younger children.

"The things that we have are for children up to age 2 and 3, so they're not as active," she said. "They're usually being carried outside, so they need to be dressed warmly," she said.

McFadden also explained that Care Net's services are free of charge for families.

"Everything is free of charge," she said. "We operate solely on a donation basis. The things that we are able to give out have been donated. We are in operation because people donated money to keep us open."

McFadden also talked about what Care Net tries to accomplish.

"We are a nonprofit, local Christian mission of the local churches here in Putnam County," she said. "We just exist to help families."

McFadden said Care Net offers counseling for unexpected and unplanned pregnancies. Another major service the organization offers is materials for new parents.

"We do a lot of material resource on an ongoing basis," McFadden said. "We offer baby clothing and maternity clothing, diapers for emergency purposes, food, formula just anything that is donated to us we can then give to people in the community who need it."