Local Girl Scout Sparks Change Through Donation Initiative In Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Miranda Salinger, a 17-year-old Chatham student, is bringing awareness to homelessness and clothing insecurity within Morris County.

Salinger, who presented her project proposal to the Chatham Borough Council this week, said she was inspired to do it because she wanted to make a difference in the community and saw a need in Chatham.

While deciding how to proceed with her project, Salinger made contact with Family Promise, a local hospitality network that provides an emergency shelter program to families experiencing homelessness.

"After discussing what I was trying to do, she told me something that completely changed my perspective on my whole project. She said while they have multiple food drives a year, they don't have any pajama drives and often kids in their shelter go to bed in their underwear," Salinger said.

Learning this fact inspired Salinger to launch her own pajama drive, claiming that all children deserve the comfort and familiarity that comes with a pair of pajamas.

Her initiative, coined "Wrapped Up In Love" was created in collaboration with Family Promise of Morris County, and serves as way to bring awareness to local families who are experiencing homelessness.

"I was struck by the really clever and genius angle which she adopted for this. Homelessness is a problem that has faced society for many years, but I think by focusing on an angle which is non-standard and therefore very memorable, I think it helps underscore just how important an issue and a problem is in our society," Mayor Thaddeus Kobylarz said.

Monarch Housing Associates, a non-profit based in Cranford, recently released its 2022 Point-In-Time Count of the Homeless report which includes data collected by county staff, government officials and local nonprofit organizations who surveyed people staying outdoors in late January.

On the night of Jan. 25, 2022, a total of 6,631 households, including 8,754 people, were experiencing homelessness in the State of New Jersey, according to the 2022 Point-In-Time Count.

The report shows that Morris County had a total of 351 homeless people as of January, which represents four percent of the state's unhoused population.

The report also states that the 2022 Count was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and "about 26.8% (91 households) of households who identified their current episode of homelessness as directly caused by COVID-19 were unsheltered."

The "Wrapped Up In Love" drive will be in effect until December, and all residents who are interested in donating can do so at two bins which are located inside the Chatham High School lobby.

All sizes of children's pajamas are now accepted, but the greatest need is for children under the age of 10, according to Salinger.

Donations can also be organized via the official "Wrapped Up In Love" Instagram page.