It started in her garage. Now, a Puyallup woman helps clothe almost 1,500 foster kids a year (The News Tribune)

It all started in Erika Thompson’s garage.

Thompson, who has been a foster parent for a decade, remembers it well.

Not long before, she welcomed the first of what would become many foster children into her home. Like many foster kids, the child arrived on Thompson’s doorstep in crisis and with almost nothing.

The child was from King County, so Thompson was able to turn to a Seattle-based nonprofit that provides support and services for foster kids and their caregivers, including new and gently used clothing.

Then Thompson welcomed her second foster child, this one from Pierce County. Again, she turned to the Seattle-based nonprofit, only to be met with a cold truth.

So Thompson created what would eventually become the Wishing Well, soliciting donations of clothing from friends and family and organizing it in bins in her Puyallup garage.

Thompson, 45, describes herself as “a problem solver,” who “instead of complaining about it, likes to fix it.”

Eight years after The Wishing Well got its nonprofit status — graduating from Thompson’s garage to a large storefront of Pacific Avenue in Parkland — the work is her passion.

To read more about Erika Thompson and The Wishing Well in Matt Driscoll's article in The News Tribune, click here.