LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — As the holiday season gets closer, one local nonprofit is ramping up for one of their busiest times of the year.
Women Giving Back, located in Loudoun County, helps support nearly 700 women and children every month.
Executive Director Nicole Morris said their mission is to help women and children in crisis by distributing clothing and important supplies for free.
"Especially if you are trying to rebuild your life and you were in a shelter and you are now looking for work, looking for childcare, and looking for housing, it’s like all these moving pieces all at once and at times can be very overwhelming," said Morris.
According to the nonprofit, 1 in 4 women experience severe intimate partner physical violence and on a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.
"We primarily focus on domestic violence victims. All they have to do is show ID that matches the referral from their social worker and then they get greeted by a volunteer who gives them a shopping bag," said Morris.
As the need grew during the pandemic, Morris said so did the need for additional volunteers.
"We rely on our volunteers to help us sort through the clothing donations, they help the clients personal shop at the boutique. They can sign up on our website, they can sign up individually or if you want to bring in a corporate group or church group," said Morris.
Now with the holidays right around the corner, you can help make the holidays special for kids in the community. Volunteers with Women Giving Back will be collecting new and unwrapped toys through December 8th.
"We are collecting brand new toys. We typically serve about 500 kids during the holiday season and 4,000 toys are distributed," said Morris.
"It gives moms the opportunity to come and shop for toys unwrapped and then give them wrapping paper as well so they can go home and it really helps them take pride in the holiday season and providing toys for the kids," said Morris.
