🍂 October 🎃 2026 Newsletter

🍁 Happy Fall Y'ALL! 👻

Thank you to everyone who donated heaty soups 🥫 and chilis in September! These items are very appreciated by our clients who are looking for something warm and filling on these chilly nights. It's fair to say that our first ever Souptember was a bubbling success! 🍲

We have so many exciting things happening at the Family Resource Center, including some fun new ways for our schools, businesses, organizations, and community members to help keep the WicKloset stocked. Please read through this newsletter for many important updates.

🧦 SOCKTOBER — October 2026

It’s Socktober! We’ll be collecting brand-new socks for all ages, sizes, and genders. Socks are one of those basic necessities that are always in demand at the FRC, so help us stock those shelves!

🥊 FOOD FIGHT — November & December 2026

Our 2nd Annual Food Fight is ON! Gather your coworkers, classmates, club members, neighbors, or friends and collect non-perishable food throughout November and December.

The organization that collects the most individual items earns the ultimate prize: BRAGGING RIGHTS! 🏆

👶 BABY LOVE — February & March 2027

Help us shower local moms and babies with a little extra love! We’ll be collecting diapers, pull-ups, and wipes to benefit families served by the FRC and Birthright Lake County.

🥣 CEREAL DOMINO CHALLENGE — May 2027

It’s coming back! Last year, you helped us collect an incredible 520 boxes of cereal. Can we beat it in 2027?!

And more importantly for our students... whose class will win the PIZZA PARTY?! 🍕

There’s only one way to find out — start collecting that cereal!

Want to host a collection for the FRC? WE LOVE THAT! 💙

If you work for a business or are part of a school, club, church, team, or community organization that would like to collect for us, please reach out and let us know your plans. We’d love to partner with you and help promote your collection!

And hey, if you want to sweeten the deal for your employees or members with a little incentive, we certainly won’t stop you. 😉 A pizza party? Dress-down day? Gift card? An extra day of PTO?! (Hey, we can dream!)

Every can of soup, pair of socks, box of cereal, package of diapers, and donated food item helps us make sure our neighbors have access to the everyday essentials they need.

People caring for people — that’s what the FRC is all about. 💙💛

Katelynn Gurbach
Program Coordinator
📞 440-810-8201
📧 FRC@wickliffecsd.org

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Our normal business hours are

8:30am to 4:30pm

Monday - Friday

And we are closed for lunch between 1&2pm

If there are changes to the schedule, they will be

posted on our social media pages as soon as possible.

The FRC will have limited hours on

Friday Oct 9th and Friday Oct 16th

Appointments are required. We are not a drop-in center.

It's now easier than ever to make a WicKloset appointment!

Click the link below to see available times and days that fit YOUR schedule. An added bonus is that it goes on your calendar and mine!

https://calendly.com/frc-wickliffecsd/30min

We welcomed in 17 new families this September, provided 66 packs of diapers and pull-ups, provided clothing, hygiene items, and non perishable food to over 320 people, attended impactful meetings hosted by United Way of Lake County, Magnified Giving, Lubrizol, and so much more.

With still 3 more months left of the year, we have already served nearly as many people in just 9 months of 2026, than we did in all of 2025.

Costumes have been generously collected and donated to us. Schedule an appointment to select your next great costume!

We are also accepting gently used, clean costumes as donations.

2026 has brought challenges to many families in ways they may have never experienced before. The cost of everyday necessities continues to stretch household budgets, and more families are finding themselves needing help—some for the very first time.

As our families navigate these challenges, we also want to be transparent about what is happening behind the scenes at the agencies and organizations working to support them.

We are feeling it, too.

Our shelves are sometimes empty. Our bins need to be restocked faster than we can fill them. Funding is limited. Donations are not coming in at the rate they once did, while the number of families asking for assistance continues to grow.

We are all doing the very best we can with the resources available to us, but the reality is that the need is growing faster than the resources available to meet it.

I joined the Family Resource Center of Wickliffe at the end of 2024. When I reviewed our numbers for January through December 2024, the WicKloset had served fewer than 1,500 people.

Just nine months into 2026, we have already served more than 2,800 people.

And we haven't even entered our busiest months of the year.

That number represents nearly twice as many people walking through our doors needing food, clothing, toiletries, diapers, household necessities and other basic resources—and we still have three months left in the year.

At the same time, something else has changed.

Many of the families who once helped us keep our shelves stocked are now watching their own budgets more carefully. Our middle-class families have always been incredibly generous, often picking up an extra package of diapers, donating children's clothing, purchasing food for our pantry or helping fulfill a holiday wish list. For many, there simply isn't extra money to do that right now.

The people who have traditionally helped fill the gap are feeling the squeeze, too.

We are seeing that same strain as we begin planning for Christmas.

Over the years, holiday assistance programs throughout our area have disappeared, reduced the geographic areas they serve, lowered the ages of children they can support or established stricter eligibility requirements simply because there are more requests than available resources.

This year, Wickliffe is feeling those changes directly.

Christmas 4 Kids through Vineyard Community Church has announced that the program will be taking a break for 2026. Our Wickliffe Schools holiday program, which traditionally shares children's names and wish lists with local businesses, organizations, the City and generous community members, is also facing difficult decisions about how many children and age groups we will be able to support.

Simply put, we do not currently have enough sponsors to meet every holiday request.

We are working incredibly hard to find sponsors, resources and creative solutions so that we can help as many Wickliffe children and families as possible. But at this point, we cannot promise that every request we receive will be able to be fulfilled.

That is a heartbreaking reality for all of us.

So, families, we are asking for your help in one small but important way: please begin having gentle conversations with your children that Christmas may look a little different this year.

Different does not mean that Christmas can't still be special.

Maybe there are fewer gifts under the tree. Maybe the gifts are smaller. Maybe we focus a little more on traditions, time together, baking cookies, watching movies, making homemade gifts, visiting family or simply being together.

We never want a parent or caregiver to feel ashamed for needing help, and we never want a child to feel forgotten. At the same time, we want to be transparent about the reality facing organizations like ours.

There are only so many dollars, donations, sponsors and resources available—and right now, more people need those resources than ever before.

If you are in a position to help this holiday season, please consider sponsoring a child or family, purchasing an item from a holiday wish list, donating to a local assistance organization or simply helping someone you know who may be struggling.

And if you are the family who needs help this year when you've always been the one giving it, please know that asking for help is exactly why organizations like ours exist.

This holiday season may look different.

But our commitment to taking care of one another hasn't changed.

People caring for people. That's what community is all about.

*The FRC does not have it's own Christmas program. We work together with Wickliffe City Schools Christmas program. All names come from current, registered families that are part of our Free (not reduced) lunch list which has been verified via income and other qualifiers. This list has over 400 students on it.

Please click on the attachment below and submit your commitment by dropping it off, calling or emailing.

- Thank you!

This October, help the Family Resource Center of Wickliffe fill our shelves—and warm some feet!

We’re collecting NEW socks of all sizes throughout the month of October. From tiny toddler toes to grown-up feet, we need socks for kids, teens, and adults.

Socks may seem like a small thing, but they’re one of those everyday necessities that families need again and again—and something we can never seem to have enough of.

🍂 Help us make SOCKTOBER a success!
🧦 New socks only
👶 Kids • Teens • Adults
📅 Collecting throughout October
📍 Donations can be dropped off at the Family Resource Center of Wickliffe at 2255 Rockefeller Rd, Wickliffe OH 44092

Every pair counts. Every pair helps. Every pair keeps someone a little warmer. 💙💛

Are you a community member looking to lead a collection at your church, workplace, or business? Please reach out to Miss Katelynn for more information and to let her know your intention!

FRC@wickliffecsd.org OR 440-810-8201

As the weather changes, we will be looking for donations of coats, gloves, hats, and winter boots.

If you prefer for us to do the shopping, please feel free to make a donation to our Coat Drive!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/2026-coat-drive

Need dental, medical or women’s health care? MedWish MedWorks is bringing free healthcare services to our community on:

• Friday, Oct. 9 & Saturday, Oct. 10
• Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland
• Doors open at 7 AM

Services include dental cleanings, fillings, extractions, dentures and temporary partials for adults. Dental screenings and sealants for children.

Plus women’s health exams, mammograms, primary care exams, vision and foot screenings, HIV and glucose testing and flu shots.

No cost. No insurance needed.

Walk-ins only, first-come, first-served. So arrive early!

Know someone who could use free care? Share this information and help spread the word!

Please join us for UH Tripoint's Fall Festival community event on Saturday, October 17th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at University Hospitals Tripoint Medical Center 7590 Auburn Rd Painesville, Ohio 44077. Trunk or Treat will occur from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m, and health screenings from 10 am - 1 pm. Learn more about University Hospitals TriPoint Medical Center's new regional cancer center hub at this event, which is set to open this fall.

University Hospitals will be offering free health screenings, educational activities, and demonstrations. There will be free blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose, bone density, carpal tunnel, and balance screenings. Pre-registered screenings include carotid ultrasound, hernia, mammogram, and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing. This event will include free locally grown produce and bike helmet give aways! There will also be access to a fitness trail walk. Additionally, there will be a large tent outdoors, a craft show, raffle baskets, touch a truck area, food trucks, and carnival games.

We are able to accept cash, check, or debit/credit card donations.

Credit or Debit

Donate through Zeffy using this link

Checks or Money Orders

Can be made payable to Wickliffe City Schools and put Family Resource Center or FRC in the memo line.

Mailing address

Wickliffe City Schools BOE

2221 Rockefeller Road

Wickliffe, OH 44092

Cash Donations

Can be made in-person at the Family Resource Center of Wickliffe at 2255 Rockefeller Road, Wickliffe OH 44092

We appreciate you SO much!

We also accept monetary donations at the center. We can take cash or you can make checks payable to Wickliffe City School District and put Family Resource Center in the memo line.

We are especially in need of boy's, teen boy, and men's clothing.

• No dress clothing (collared shirts, suits, dress pants)
• No summer clothing - unless bag is clearly marked with contents (Girl 10-12 Summer, etc)

Drop off clothing that has been recently washed and that is in good condition (free of rips, stains, etc) at the FRC during our normal business hours or at the Wickliffe Public Library during their normal business hours.

Email: frc@wickliffecsd.org
Website: https://www.wickliffeschools.org/wickliffe-frc
Location: Family Resource Center of Wickliffe, Wickliffe, OH, USA
Phone: (440) 810-8201
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WickliffeFRC

Coordinator, Programming & Services: Katelynn Gurbach