How a Buford nonprofit uses pajamas to bring comfort to children in foster care

Dec. 22—For children charting potentially foreign and frightening territory, Jambos brings comfort.

Between the walls of a warehouse in downtown Buford, the nonprofit packages sets of brand-new pajamas by the thousands to clothe children in foster care across 50 states and 14 countries.

Steered by Hall County resident Rebekah Black, the operation brings a lifelong calling to service full-circle.

"I was 10 or 11 years old when I knew there was a call on my life to serve people," she said. "I never leaned into nonprofit. But once I did, it was like, 'This is my wheelhouse. This is where I belong. This is what I'm called to do.'"

For Black, a small-town girl hailing from east of Lexington, Kentucky, it was during a mission trip to serve in an orphanage in Kingston, Jamaica, at 14 that those seeds first took root.

"I remember sitting with my mom and another 14-year-old girl, and she was just like, 'You don't know how lucky you are to have your mom here.' And that pricked something in my heart. My heart started beating for kids in foster care, orphan care."

At Jambos, Black's team uses "heartbeat language" versus "heartbreak language," she said, "because where we do sympathize and we can empathize, we believe that when your heart's beating for something, you start taking action and when your heart's breaking for something, you can feel trapped like, 'What can I do?' When your heart starts beating for something, you move."

After returning home from another mission trip in 2017, this time to Kenya, Black quit her corporate job and began asking the Department of Family and Children Services, Child Protective Services, local clothing closets and foster parents to identify their most pressing, practical needs.

"Time after time it was, 'Pajamas, pajamas, pajamas,'" she said.

According to Black, for many children in foster care, the move to a new home can come abruptly with little warning or even time to pack an overnight bag.

"That can be kind of scary," she said. "It is our heart as a family here at Jambos to bring comfort to those moments."

In four years' time, the Jambos has brought comfort to 48,000 children in the thick of those moments.

This year alone, the nonprofit has provided pajamas to 21,000 children, including 3,400 requests that flooded in over a 72-hour period after Jambos went viral on TikTok three weeks ago.

"It puts into perspective how big this need really is," Black said. "Operationally, we're doing more than we have ever done before."

Heavily reliant upon volunteers, Black, a single mother of three, shares the helm of Jambos with fellow moms Mallory Daws, chief operating officer, and Kelly Keister, director of warehouse operations.

Jambos' website links to an Amazon Wishlist where donors can purchase pajamas that will ship directly to the nonprofit's warehouse at 115 E. Main St., suite EB1A in Buford.

Local donors can also drop off pajama donations between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday-Thursday. If no one is at the warehouse to collect them, the donations can be placed in a marked bin by the door.

Jambos also provides materials for businesses, churches and other organizations wanting to host pajama drives, which generate a sizable chunk of Jambos' inventory, Black said.

At present, Jambos' most pressing needs are pajamas for infants 0-12 months and adult sizes XS-XXL. The nonprofit is also seeking monetary donations to offset shipping costs.

"Going viral on TikTok was not part of our budget," Black said. "It looks like it will cost us about $30,000 to $35,000 to get all of those pajamas out."

Jambos' vision has never just been about pajamas, though.

"Yes, we're using pajamas to bring comfort to kids, but it's bigger than that," Black said. "We hope these kids know that there's a community around them, there's a God who loves them, we love them. If we can make (their experience) a little bit more comfortable, that's why we exist."

As for Black, she's just a regular girl trying to do good in the world."

"Jambos is a place where good people can do good for people," she said.

To learn more about Jambos, volunteer opportunities or how to request pajamas, visit jambosdonates.com.