Kathy Pettey, President of P.J.’s Forgotten Children shares how each of us can help these children go back-to-school with dignity.
_________________________________________________________________
P.J.’s Forgotten Children began in 1986 when the Alliance for the Mentally Ill was alarmed at the number of attempted suicides among the mentally ill because they could not provide Christmas for their children (most lived well below poverty level). The idea of providing gifts for parents to wrap proved to be very therapeutic and helped to alleviate the increase holiday depression. In 1995 when UAMI could no longer administer programs, P.J.’s was established as an independent, non-profit organization in memory of Patrick John Smith, who died while suffering a severe mental illness.
The term “forgotten” refers to those children who are often overlooked because many parents are suffering from
mental illness as well, and are less likely to seek traditional means of help for themselves and their families.
In addition to the original Christmas Project, P.J.’s Forgotten Children started their Back to School Project in an effort to provide basic school supplies to low income families who suffer from mental illness. They hope to supply approximately 1700 children along the Wasatch Front with a backpacks and school supplies.
The following items are needed for each backpack:
• $25 Payless Shoe Gift Certificate
• 24 count crayons
• Markers
• Dictionary
• Notebooks
• Calculators (regular or scientific)
• Scissors
• Pencil Sharpeners
• Rulers
• Colored Pencils
• 1 ½” Binders
• Glue Sticks & Elmer’s Glue
• Tape
• Shampoo
• Bar Soap
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Hair Brush
• Comb
You can drop of your items at the following locations:
SERVICEMASTER CLEAN
545 West 3560 South
Salt Lake City
VALLEY MENTAL HEALTH
7309 South 180 West
Midvale
VALLEY MENTAL HEALTH
3681 West 6200 South
Kearns
KELLER & WILLIAMS
1214 East Wilmington Avenue
Salt Lake City
_________________________________________________________________
For more information on how you can help you can contact P.J.’s Forgotten Children by phone at 801-565-8582 or via email at www.pjsforgottenchildren.com
Add comment