Our Sponsors:
Helen’s Pajama Party
108 3rd Street, Suite 216
Des Moines, IA 50309
515-244-7706 800-760-7706
A note from Kelly Sargent, founder of Helen's Pajama Party
October 2006 was unseasonably cold in Iowa, and as I drove home from work in the dark, I was overcome with an urgent desire to buy new pajamas. Since I already owned several pairs, it seemed highly impractical. I tried to talk myself out of it, but it didn’t work. I craved the cozy comfort of new pajamas.
It occurred to me then as I stood there at the pajama rack that if I felt that way and I have a safe home and a loving husband, women seeking refuge at domestic violence shelters who nearly always arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs, might also be comforted by having a pair of new pajamas waiting for them.
I decided to ask friends and family if they would buy new-with-tags pajamas for the domestic violence shelter in Des Moines. I sent 50 invitations, and I got 150 pairs. I was excited and grateful to everyone who donated, but as I learned later, we hadn’t even covered a third of a year in one shelter in one town.
My goal became to provide enough pajamas to last the Des Moines shelter all year, and from there it increased to giving every domestic violence shelter in Iowa a year’s supply. Since then Helen’s Pajama Party has expanded its reach to include shelters in Nevada, Arkansas and Virginia. Join me in helping give victims of domestic violence new pajamas and a new beginning.
On behalf of those we serve,
Photo courtesy of Paige Peterson Photography
(on the web at http://www.3pstudio.com/)
