This Ties That Bind Us is sponsored by Matt The Carpet Guy.
MILLSBORO, Del. - Volunteers with Clothing Our Kids sort new clothes, fill orders, and deliver items to students across Sussex County as the nonprofit works to help children feel confident and ready to learn.
Clothing Our Kids serves at-risk students from Head Start through high school by providing new clothing requested by school nurses and counselors.
President Bob Blouin said the founders launched the organization after seeing firsthand what some students were experiencing.
"Mary and John Rio started this charity 13 years ago, and Mary started in a spare bedroom and quickly grew to her garage. It started when John, her husband, who is a vice principal of a Sussex County school, came home and said he knew of a little girl who was wearing the same clothes all five days and she was getting bullied," Blouin said. "The child was showing signs that she didn't want to come to school if she was having a negative experience. Mary said, 'We can't have that happen without helping, so Mary and her neighbors started this.'"
The nonprofit first began delivering clothes to pre-K and elementary school students.
"We had people who wanted to help us and were blessed with wonderful sponsors and contributors. We were able to stop delivering used clothes and start delivering new clothes," Blouin said. "The nurses and the counselors were static because they said, 'It's a wonderful thing when a child gets to pull a new tag off, knowing that that article of clothing or those shoes were never worn by anybody but themselves.'"
Today, the organization delivers clothing to schools at every grade level across Sussex County.
The nonprofit reports providing more than 11,000 items to more than 1,400 students in the area during the 2025-2026 school year.
"We want the children to stay in school. We want them to feel good about walking in the door," Blouin added.
Volunteer Center Director Karen Borges has worked with the nonprofit since its early days.
"It is the most rewarding job to know that you are taking care of a child with a week's worth of clothes, and to fill that box, we fill it with love," Borges said.
Blouin emphasized the continued need for the organization's work.
"We wish we didn't have to do this. We wish we lived in a perfect world where children could go to school and feel not threatened because they don't have the right clothes, or they don't have new clothes, or they don't have clean clothes," he said.
The organization continues its mission of supporting local students, one outfit at a time.
