Dixon Children’s Advocacy Center sees massive community support for holiday pajama drive

DIXON – Far exceeding expectations, Dixon’s Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center received more than 800 donations to its holiday pajama drive.

“We just really want to thank the community because we have had so much support with this,” Executive Director Jessica Cash said in an interview with Shaw Local.

The advocacy center, which serves those in Lee and Ogle counties, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works with area law enforcement, prosecutors and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to investigate allegations of child abuse and, particularly, child sex abuse.

One of many services the center provides is conducting forensic interviews with a child whom they suspect has been abused. Instead of going to a police station or a hospital, they are brought to Shining Star, a child-friendly and trauma-informed environment, Cash said.

The interview is designed so the child only has to tell their story once to a forensic interviewer who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not retraumatize the child while law enforcement professionals who need to see the interview can watch on a monitor in a separate room, Cash said.

It was during those interviews that the center realized there was a need for pajamas.

“Sometimes we have to ask the child what they were wearing when things happened, or whatever the situation might be for them,” Cash said.

A lot of children were sleeping in regular clothes they might wear to school because their families or caregivers didn’t have the resources to buy them pajamas.

In November, the center started advertising the pajama drive on social media and handing out flyers in the community.

“Initially, when we had this idea, we thought each kid would get one pair of pajamas,” Cash said.

“Everybody is helping,” she said – from individuals and business to schools and churches, “it’s just coming out of the woodwork.”

On Thursday, the number of donated pajamas reached 814, Cash said.

“It just kind of hits you how awesome it is, and how great our community is, and that they do care about kids,” Cash said.

The center already has distributed the pajamas to a lot of kids along with a holiday gift bag.

“I wish everybody that donated could see the smiles on the kids' faces,” Cash said. “Sometimes you think [it’s] something as little as a pair of pajamas, but the kids have really been excited about it.”

Any that are left over will be added to the “comfort bag” children receive after they come out of an interview. The bag typically contains a blanket, a stuffed animal, a journal and more. It’s intended to help children emotionally regulate after their interview.

Aside from pajamas, the drive also brought awareness to the agency. A lot of people who came in to donate said that they didn’t know the center existed, Cash said.

“It’s kind of a service that, unless you experienced something, you don’t necessarily know about it,” she said.

Still, in 2024, there’s been an uptick in children coming to the center. Since July 1, 110 new kids were brought to the center, Cash said.

On average, the agency provides services to about 300 children in Lee and Ogle counties each year. Within that 300, about 150 to 250 of them are new to the center, she said.

“It’s a pretty significant amount of kids” compared with the number of residents within each county, Cash said.

About 51,162 people live in Ogle County and about 33,654 live in Lee County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“It’s been great to get our information out there as a community resource so people that might get into a situation [know] they have a resource to call,” Cash said.

The agency, like other children’s advocacy centers, also provides referrals to mental health services, medical exams, courtroom preparation, victim advocacy and more. At Shining Star, the agency has a full-time counselor who will provide individual counseling as well as two support groups for teenagers and the child’s parents or caregivers.

Cash noted that all of the center’s services are completely free to the children and their caregivers.

It’s entirely funded through federal and state grants, as well as donations and fundraisers.

On Shining Star’s website, there’s an ongoing wish list of in-need items, including things such as juice boxes, individual snacks, fleece blankets and more. Specific items and other fundraising events also are posted on its Facebook page.

Child abuse can be reported to the DCFS Hotline at 1-800-25-ABUSE.