How The Sharing Shelves Began

"What if the things children outgrow could help another child?"

The Sharing Shelves began with a simple idea from Sia, an 11th-grade student at Crofton High School in Maryland. Sia noticed how quickly children grow out of clothes, shoes, books, and toys — often while they still have plenty of use left — and wondered how those items could find their way to another child who needed them.

What started as a passion project grew into a community-based initiative built on care and respect: collecting gently used and new children's items, reviewing and preparing each one, and connecting them with local families through infancy and elementary school.

Sia created The Sharing Shelves to make it easier for neighbors to help neighbors — without red tape, and without anyone feeling embarrassed to ask for what their child needs. Every donation and every request is treated with the same care and respect.

Share. Support. Grow.