Our mission is to promote, encourage and celebrate the growth and well being of children through charitable activities, initiatives and financial support. Our vision is to create lasting partnerships that connect our company with organizations that share our commitment to children’s education, health, cultural development, and welfare.
Carter’s, Inc. believes in the importance of giving back to our communities as well as helping children around the world. It is not only our responsibility as the leading children’s wear company in the United States, but a philosophy shared by our nearly 9000 employees worldwide. In 2011, we launched Carter’s Cares, a charitable program that enables us to streamline our giving strategies, allowing us to help more children in even bigger ways.
1. K.I.D.S. – Kids in Distressed Situations
The majority of Carter’s charitable giving is funneled through a well-respected organization called K.I.D.S. The organization’s impact on children’s welfare is far-reaching. The organization provides NEW clothing, toys, shoes, baby products, books and more to children and families challenged by poverty, homelessness, military service, and disaster survival. We’ve worked with K.I.D.S. for over a decade, and have built a true partnership with them. We donate hundreds of thousands of dollars in product each year and they distribute it to the causes most aligned with our mission. They also manage the majority of requests Carter’s receives for charitable contributions. Our Retail Store Donation Program, launched with K.I.D.S. in 2010, enables us to donate all excess children’s apparel from nearly 500 Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh retail stores nationwide. In 2011 alone, this program resulted in the donations of more than $1 million worth of goods. This program helps ensure that every piece of unsold clothing gets delivered into the hands of a child in need.
In March of 2011, OshKosh B’gosh reached out to children and adults all over the world, and asked them to join us in helping the victims of the tsunami in Japan. We asked our customers and friends to make an origami paper crane as a symbol of hope, and bring it in to an OshKosh store, or post it online. For every crane we received, up to 50,000, we promised to donate a garment to Japan relief. We also displayed the cranes in OshKosh B’gosh stores in Japan.
In one month, we received over 2 million cranes from around the world, and donated 80,000 garments, more than enough to donate 2 outfits to each child affected by the tsunami. The donation distribution was managed by K.I.D.S. and their partner organization, World Relief.
In 2010, Carter’s signed on to sponsor Atlanta-based Bert’s Big Adventure (BBA) annual Walt Disney World trip for children with chronic and terminal illnesses and their families. We quickly realized that BBA was about more than a 5-day trip of a lifetime to the Magic Kingdom. As a result, Carter’s has formed a strong partnership with Bert’s Big Adventure and together, we have developed and launched programs that allow our employees to get involved with the children and the families the organization serves on a personal level. In addition to sponsoring the trip, Carter’s funds the “Fairy Godparent” program, which provides hospitalized Bert’s Big Adventure alumnae with a daily visit from a “fairy godparent” who brings whatever the family requests, be it a break from the hospital for the parent, or a special treat for the patient. We also staff the “Carter’s Cares Club,” which provides volunteers for all BBA special events.
4. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – Light The Night
Carter’s, Inc. is proud to have worked hand-in-hand with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for the past 13 years to help find a cure for leukemia, the number one cancer killer of children. Since the first Light the Night Walk in 1999, Carter’s employees have raised nearly $2.5 million in support of this important research.
Carter’s is honored to be, once again, a Special Friend of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Our employees participate in walk events across the country and raising awareness and money for this important cause. Carter’s employees, families and friends, are proud to join with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help find a cure for blood cancers.
In America, over 500,000 children live in homeless shelters, group homes or foster care programs. These children are often taken from their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They live in shelters and temporary housing with nothing to call their own. The Pajama Program is a national organization whose mission is to distribute new pajamas and new books to children in need across the country. By partnering with the Pajama Program, Carter’s is able to provide cozy warm pajamas to our country’s most vulnerable children. In addition to donating pajamas for 100,000 children, we’ve engaged our customers through an online and in-store drive, and through those efforts, raised $100,000 for the organization in 2011.
6. Operation Little Feet
This program was started by Commander Robert Patrick of the U.S. Navy, as a day of service in honor of his alma mater while he was stationed in Djibouti, Africa. He decided to help a local orphanage with a donation of clothing and volunteer time. Through a mutual friend, Carter’s learned about Commander Patrick and decided to join him in his efforts, hence, Operation Little Feet was born.
Over the past three years, Operation Little Feet has given thousands of new baby garments to orphans in Africa and to new families in maternity wards at naval hospitals in Jacksonville, Florida and San Diego, California.