Not quite three months ago, I joined two friends who I volunteer with at my local food pantry in brainstorming a new project that we three could do together. With a combined life experience of over 150 years, we were certain of our ability to figure out how to accomplish anything we came up with.
What we settled on was creating a clothing bank somewhere in the neighborhood, a place where folks who couldn't afford to shop at Goodwill or the other thrift stores could get free donated clothing for themselves and their children.
It must have been the right choice, because things began to move forward at breathtaking speed. Was it pure serendipity that put us in touch with a brand new service agency that was about to open its doors? One that had a clothing bank on its projected agenda? I contacted them right away and learned that the new agency was sponsored by a local evangelical church. Since my friends and I had all had experience working in the clothing bank that was no longer in operation at the food panty, they were thrilled to hear from us.
From past experience in starting a weekly soup kitchen in my 'hood, I expected this to be a process of a thousand baby steps occurring in meeting after meeting before we could open our doors. Instead, at the end of our first meeting, we adjourned to the room we would use and began cleaning it out. Imagine our surprise when we discovered a long wooden dowel, a clothes rack, mounted wall to wall on one entire length of the room! Clearly, a clothing bank in this space had been preordained.
The next week we scrubbed the walls and painted them. The following week we finished the trim and shampooed the carpet. By then, donations from the church had already started to arrive, so I went to my local Value Village Thrift Store and asked for a donation of hangers. The young manager was extremely generous and gave me two huge cartons of hangers for pants and shirts. Another friend donated two tall shelves and a rack to display jewelry.
Bottom line: in less than three months from inception, we'll be ready to open our doors!
I feel as thrilled as I was when the Saturday soup kitchen opened. Still in operation after more than four years, feeding around 100 of our homeless and hungry brothers and sisters every week, I get a charge thinking about the spiritual food all the volunteers are fed each week as they roll up their sleeves, come in, and serve in community. No matter what stresses they're going through, the joy of service overrides all else, and Saturday mornings in the kitchen become a party.
I am so looking forward to creating the same opportunity for a new wave of volunteers who will give not only clothing but their time and energy at our new clothing bank. In giving, it's amazing what you can receive in return. Check out what's going on right where you are, and see if there's a need that's yet to be met. If you don't want to start something on your own, I highly recommend www.volunteermatch.com to find service opportunities in your neighborhood.
"In the shelter of each other, the people live."
