Several local non-profit organizations and government agencies are partnering to help streamline community giving to children in need.

“We’ve been talking about this for about a year,” said Helen Higgins, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club. “We actually tried to do it last Christmas but we got a late start. But we are hoping this makes things easier for everyone.”

The main goals of Collecting for Kids are to prevent the duplication of collection efforts within the community and ensure  that items in high demand are collected.

The Collecting for Kids consortium will refer people wishing to donate items to Vina Moses and Love INC, which are their collection and distribution partners. Then, families in need will also be referred to Vina Moses, so they can pick up items.

Other non-profits involved in Collecting for Kids are CASA — Voices for Children, the Children’s Farm Home and the Jackson Street Youth Shelter.

The Commission on Children & Families, Department of Human Services, Benton County Juvenile Department and the Corvallis School District are the local agencies working with the consortium.

The Collecting for Kids consortium is currently working with the Vina Moses Center, which is preparing for its annual back-to-school program that is held in August. The consortium also plans to help with holiday giving drives as well.

Higgins said she was motivated to form Collecting for Kids after a truck load of toys were dropped off at the Boys & Girls Club four days before Christmas two years years ago.

“I was thinking, wow this is great,” Higgins recalled. “But then I was like where am I going to store all of this?”

Higgins said she hopes Collecting for Kids will not only ease the strain on local organizations, but help Vina Moses and Love INC. gather more items for their programs.

She said a database will be used to keep track of what families have received to help enure every family has equal access to what’s available. It will also help determine what items are needed most.

Christine Duffney, the executive officer of Vina Moses, said Collecting for Kids should benefit children in need because their families will know where to turn for help.

“I think it will help things for being scattered all over at different places,” Duffney said. “So families aren’t scrambling to figure out where to go for certain items.”

Duffney said Vina Moses volunteers are already preparing for the center’s school program. Last year, more than 1,000 children participated in the program, a record.

“The biggest thing is that we always need more, especially when it comes to clothes,” Duffney said. “We always are short.”