American folk and country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter once wrote, “Every sleepy boy and girl in every bed around the world can hear the stars up in the sky whispering a lullaby.” But what is night like to a child without the comforting arms of a parent or the soft murmer of a bedtime story?

On Nov. 1, Larchmont resident Whitney Kneisley was honored with the “Woman of the Year” award by the Pajama Program for her work with children and teenagers, many of whom are caught in a limbo between foster home and shelter while desperately seeking a permenant home and the security associated with it.

The Pajama Program—a nationwide not-for-profit organization started in 2001—provides new pajamas and books to children who may lack the simple comforts of a loving home environment. Although night is typically a time to rest, Pajama Program Founder Genevieve Piturro saw many children in her years as a volunteer with the Starlight Foundation, simply collapse with exhaustion in their street clothes at the end of a long, arduous day.  She started the program after many years of running her own business.

The Westchester County chapter holds special fundraising events, such as the recently completed “Stuff A Bus,” that benefit children of all nationalities and at-risk circumstances in the area.

As a mother, Kneisley was inspired to work with the program because, as she explains, “It's our job as fellow human beings to try and provide comfort to each other.”

“I am the mother of two amazing boys, ages 10 and 8. I snuggle with my boys every night, and every night I think about one of the students or young kids that I've worked with that go to bed without a snuggle, without pajamas, without comfort,” she said.

She began 10 years ago as a tutor at New York Foundling's Blaine Hall program, which houses foster children that have been abused until they can be placed in another home. ”I remember how excited the kids were to have their very own pajamas—ones they could keep,” she said. 

"That was and still is a very new concept to a lot of these children.”

She tells a story about one of her tutees, Jose, who really impressed upon her the importance of the program.

“Jose, who was 8 at the time and illiterate, was so proud to show me his new pajamas and bedtime book,” she said. “He couldn't believe that they were actually his to keep.”

Currently, Kneisley volunteers through the New York Junior League, co-chairs a committee of women who mentor young mothers who are in foster care and tutors at Mott Haven Charter School Academy, where she helped to build the program and now sits on the school’s board of directors.

“Working with volunteers from the New York Junior League and New York Foundling, we have tutors at the school almost every day to help students who are really struggling to catch up,” she said.

Having helped so many kids over the years, she is now turning her focus to those in foster care who age out of the system. “They are the ‘lost’ kids. So much focus is spent on the young children of foster care, but very little is spent on [older teens.]”

Her next step? Helping to create a mentoring program for older teens.

"Designing programs like this will help these students get the guidance and resources they need to prepare themselves for life outside the foster care system,” she said.

To donate to the Pajama Program, you can visit the website here to make a contribution via credit card or to donate a gift of a pair of pajamas from the wish lists.