- Hello, and welcome to Living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm your host, Brittany Sweeney.

Giving back to families who are giving a home to children who need one.

The Kindness Project does just that.

With the second location just opening in the Poconos, the Lehigh Valley nonprofit is preparing for the holiday season.

- Maria Bermudez, of Bethlehem, currently houses six children in the foster care system.

- Hello.

- This is all I need today.

- Perfect.

- And has cared for countless others over the years.

- All right, good to see you.

- All right, thank you so much.

See you soon.

- She became a foster parent when she and her husband became empty-nesters, and for the past five years, they've relied on The Kindness Project to help with necessities.

- It has allowed me to take in more children.

- The nonprofit offers free clothing, shoes, school supplies, and other items kids may need to families, like the Bermudez family, who foster.

- Just knowing that I have the backup of The Kindness Exchange, that are able to provide the smallest things like a baby bottle or a can of formula, or even when they come in just in a diaper, and they're able to provide the clothing, pajamas, diapers, anything that a child would need.

- It's a place kids in foster care can get most of their living essentials.

Something small like a bottle, or larger items for their bedroom.

- Beds, car seats, all the baby equipment that comes with a baby, and everything that they would maybe get at a baby shower, but aren't having a baby shower.

So we can supplement everything that they need.

And again, they don't have to think about the price of it.

- Founder Jenae Holtzhafer came up with the idea when her family decided to look into foster care.

Instead, they saw a need for supplies for those children and opened up a free shop for families who foster.

- It's quite an expense to bring another person into your home, so we felt it was necessary to create a program that could provide resources and supplement some of the expenses for families.

- The Kindness Project is mostly run by volunteers who restock clothing and sort through donated items.

Lindsey Diesel drives from Wyomissing, in Berks County, to donate her time to the cause.

- Growing up, my family was a foster family, so it holds a special place in my heart.

So I was just trying to figure out a way to give back.

And then, I found The Kindness Project.

- The nursing student has since taken a role as Holtzhafer's assistant for a few hours a week at the Emmaus location, referred to as The Kindness Exchange.

Now a second location is open in Stroudsburg called The Kindness Cottage.

Holtzhafer says she always sees the need go up this time of year, but more now since the pandemic.

She says more than 30 new children registered at the shop last month.

- There's a lot of kids entering foster care, which is sad, but we're happy that we're here, able to support those families.

We're hoping we can get more families involved to step up to foster.

- Along with the influx of children in the foster care system coming through their doors, the charity is now getting ready for their holiday collection.

Holtzhafer has the kids pick a few holiday gifts that the community can then purchase for the families.

- We actually let them fill out a Google form, or the parents do, of a few specific gifts they really, really want, wishes they really would love to see fulfilled.

And then, we create our own Amazon wish list based off of their specific wants and wishes.

- The founder says giving kids something on their wish list not only provides them with a gift, but provides the children with some dignity, as well.

- And everything can ship right to us.

We provide that to the family directly.

And really, the cool thing about it is that people from anywhere can support that.

- The agency uses its social media pages to post what items and sizes are most needed.

Again, all of the items available at The Kindness Project are made possible through donations.

That will do it for this edition of Living in the Lehigh Valley.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, hoping you stay happy and healthy.