By Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist
Going “back to school” became a little less painful for kids and for their mother’s wallets with a Community Clothing Drive. The drive, sponsored by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in conjunction with the Colonies North community served hundreds of people today.
The donations began pouring in yesterday at Colonies House, Colonies North’s Community Center. Fortunately, along with the donations, volunteers showed up in force to help set up. Racks of clothing, organized by size, began to fill along with table after table each with mounds of clothing. For Debbie Walker, President of the Women’s organization for the Church’s San Antonio North Stake, and the event’s organizer, it was gratifying to see the efforts of so many work together to bless the underserved in the area.
For some of the volunteers, it was a family event – from culling through closets to hanging up donations and sorting hundreds of pairs of shoes. One volunteer from the North Stake said, “There really are a lot of nice things here.” By the time the volunteers finished setting up, there were 16 tables and 12 racks of every type of clothing, ranging from infants to maternity wear. Hundreds of pairs of shoes were lined up along the length of the back wall.
Today’s drive, while intended to ease the burdens on all who attended, was specifically targeted towards the area’s large refugee population. Two years ago 594 people were served, with about 80% of those coming from the refugee community.
With no limit on what you could take, bags and bags of clothing were loaded up. As one man from Ethiopia and his family were heading out with their bags, he asked “How much do we owe you?” apparently, not realizing that everything was free. He, along with many who came today, expressed sincere gratitude.