ARLINGTON — In spite of receiving an unprecedented number of grants, Kids’ Kloset of Arlington reported that it’s still only able to serve about half of the children that it hopes to.

Earlier in the fall, the Coastal Community Bank Employee Giving Fund, held at the Greater Everett Community Foundation, awarded a grant of $1,000 to Kids’ Kloset for clothing and other essentials for students in the Arlington, Lakewood and Darrington school districts, while the Tulalip Tribes awarded Kids’ Kloset a grant of $2,375 for the group’s greatest needs. The Boeing Employees Community Fund joined in with $4,800 for capital improvements, including two sets of washer-dryers, a copier, a printer and a computer, while the Rotary Club of Arlington chipped in $5,000 for new shoes.

In November and December, the Norcliff Foundation granted Kids’ Kloset $2,500 for clothing, while the Stillaguamish Tribe granted the group $1,500 for its greatest needs. A Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Award also yielded a $5,000 donation to Kids’ Kloset.

“It’s been one of our best fiscal years ever,” Kids’ Kloset Co-Director Kimberly Meno said of the group’s six-year history. “Part of that is that we’ve ramped up our grant writing, but some of these were utterly unexpected, like the Bank of America award. That’ll make a nice gift.”

At the same time, Meno noted that Kids’ Kloset is only able to serve approximately half of the 2,300 children in the Arlington, Lakewood and Darrington school districts who are eligible for their services due to qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches as a result of their families’ incomes.

“We still need lots of warm coats, hats and gloves, especially at this time of the year,” Meno said.

Among the organizations conducting holiday drives for Kids’ Kloset are the Smokey Point Community Church, Kent Prairie Elementary’s Respect Team, Cougar Creek Elementary’s ASB, the Pioneer and Eagle Creek elementary schools, Gutierrez Family Chiropractic, ABW Technologies and HCI Steel.

Kids’ Kloset of Arlington is located at 135 S. French Ave. For more information, call them at 360-435-4875 or log onto their website at www.arlingtonkidskloset.com.