Every June, school lost and found bins overflow with perfectly good kids' clothing. Jackets. Hoodies. Shoes. Items that were lost, never claimed, and headed straight for the trash.

We saw it happening across Burbank schools and couldn't look away. Kids grow fast. A jacket that fit in September doesn't fit by January. Families buy what they need, kids lose things, and the cycle moves on. But the clothes don't have to disappear. They just need somewhere to go.

WHAT WE BUILT

Lost & Found Rehomed is exactly what it sounds like. We collect unclaimed clothing from BUSD school lost and found bins at the end of each semester. Student volunteers help sort. Our team washes, organizes, and stores everything. Then we redistribute it for free to Burbank families at public events — no membership, no income verification, no barrier.

It's a closed loop. Burbank clothes stay in Burbank. One family's too-small hoodie becomes another kid's first-day-of-school layer.

WE KNOW IT WORKS

Last August, we ran our first formal pilot through the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank's Back to School event. We distributed 400 pieces of clothing, reaching families through BGC's network of 750 households. Kids walked out with jackets, shoes, and gear that fit.

Before that, we had already been quietly redistributing clothes across school sites, reaching roughly 150 families on volunteer hustle alone.

This year we're expanding from 3 schools to 7. And we're bringing the event into the community at Buena Vista Branch Library, a public space anyone in Burbank can walk into.

WHY THE LOCAL ECONOMY MATTERS HERE

Every piece of clothing we redistribute is a purchase a family doesn't have to make. In a city where two freeways, a major airport, and two train stations put a disproportionate pollution burden on our kids, economic relief and environmental action are the same thing.

Keeping clothes circulating locally means less fast fashion, less waste, and more money staying in Burbank households. It's not charity. It's a smarter system.

WHY YOUR PARTICIPATION MATTERS

This entire program runs on volunteer time. Our team collects, hauls, launders in our own machines, makes laundromat runs, stores everything through the summer, and sets up the event. No paid staff. No warehouse. Just people who believe Burbank kids deserve better than a landfill's worth of perfectly good clothing.

Your donation covers the real costs: laundry, supplies, transport, and the operational lift to make August 8th at Buena Vista happen and our January 16th winter distribution too.

All of it runs on volunteer time and donated dollars. Your contribution covers the unglamorous, necessary stuff that makes it work.

What your dollars do:

$15 : One Clean Load Covers a laundromat run for one batch of kids' clothes. About 15–20 pieces back in circulation.

$35 : Supply Run Bins, bags, and hangers so our volunteers can actually move a school's worth of lost and found.

$75 : Laundry Hero Full wash, dry, and fold for one school's entire haul. Yes, we're doing this ourselves.

$150 : School Sponsor One school, start to finish. Pickup through sorted and ready for August 8th.

$500 : Event Champion You're making the August 8th community distribution happen at Buena Vista. Families show up. Kids leave with what they need.

Lost & Fund, BEC's 30 Day Challenge

Your spring clean fuels their summer green.

Team Members