San Rafael Foster Kids Benefit from Sleep Train Drive

Children will be preparing to go back to school in the next couple of weeks, and with the help of donations foster kids will be getting ready too.

In San Rafael, the Marin Foster Parent Association has partnered with Sleep Train, the West Coast mattress retailer that has been organizing drives for California foster children since 2008.

Sleep Train organizes drives for school supplies, pajamas, clothing, coats, shoes and toys six times a year, asking the public to bring donations to a local store. The retailer works with local organizations like the Marin Foster Parent Association to determine needs and distribute the items.

Mauri Knowles, marketing and community relations coordinator for the Sacramento-based store, said the company has taken pride in giving back to the community for 20 years and selected the foster program theme as a way to narrow its focus.

"We have wonderful support and receive a lot of participation in the Bay Area," Knowles said. 

San Rafael resident Carol Ihlenburg, a foster parent for many years, said she contacted Sleep Train after hearing their advertisements seeking toy donations last Christmastime and thought Marin kids should take part. A partnership was formed and now San Rafael children can count on school supplies this fall.

Ihlenburg said some foster families hesitate to take the donations so they need to be encouraged. At the association's annual picnic in the spring, she said a table was set up with bags of donated items and the kids were happy to take them home.

"I'm really happy we were able to partner with them," Ihlenburg said. "They're really great."

Sleep Train officials are pleased with the partnership too and for the part they can take in helping foster children be better prepared for life.

"We hope with our program to help them succeed,"  Knowles said, noting that California has 80,000 foster children and nationwide there are 500,000. "So California leads all the states."

She said it is gratifying to be able to make a difference.

"It's great to hear stories about the foster kids who receive them and how they benefit from the program," Knowles said. 

New school supplies may be taken to the Sleep Train store at 530 San Rafael Ave. through Labor Day.