What to Do
Deciding what to do with your little girl’s clothes that no longer fit; the dress-shoes your preteen son wore once; the baby clothes your infant outgrew before ever wearing; or the sweaters your teenager no longer likes, can be difficult. Where do you bring them? What actually happens to the clothes you donate? Are they given a second chance? Do they end up in a landfill?
And then there’s the emotional aspect of getting rid of your child’s outgrown clothes. There are scores of books and blogs and even an Off-Broadway play (Love, Loss and What I Wore) about the emotional hold and the memories clothes have. If you knew your child’s clothes were helping a local child living in poverty, perhaps your decision to donate would be easy.
The Numbers
The percentage of children in Westchester County (under 18) living in poverty in 2015 was 13 percent, or roughly 28,735 youngsters. Living in poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life. The fear of being humiliated and the pressure of trying to fit in is all too real and yet, as trivial as it might sound, having the “right clothes” makes a world of difference to these children.
The Sharing Shelf (TSS) is a Family Services of Westchester (FSW) program, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2009. TSS collects gently used and new clothing from communities throughout Westchester County and redistributes them to local children in need at no cost.
Annually, TSS distributes more than 50,000 items of clothing to nearly 2,000 children through referrals from over 50 social service agencies, food pantries, schools and hospitals throughout the County.
The program also distributes new backpacks filled with school supplies each summer. TSS’s Director and Founder, Deborah Blatt, recognized that for families living in poverty, outfitting their children with backpacks and school supplies was a huge problem. “What started with 200 backpacks in my garage a few years ago, blossomed into TSS’s Backpacks to School program, a county-wide effort helping over 1,000 children,” says Blatt.
How it Works
On any given day at TSS there are volunteers sorting through bags and bags of donated clothes. Sorting guidelines are strict, so much so, that every volunteer must be trained and quickly learns which items get packed for children and which are placed in bins for recycling. Clothes that are ripped, stained, or outdated, have religious symbols, offensive language or are personalized (embroidered names or initials), are set aside for recycling, as are used underwear, socks and hats. The clothing TSS distributes should give its new owner a sense of pride. A rule of thumb is – if you wouldn’t give it to your friend or neighbor, TSS wouldn’t distribute it either.
TSS packers follow carefully crafted packing guidelines and love what they do – they coordinate clothes into matching outfits for every child (a dress gets matching tights; a T-shirt comes with jeans and a coordinating sweatshirt or sweater). “Packing Lists” vary depending on the season, but each child gets a week’s worth of clothing. Volunteers show up regularly (every week) and youngsters volunteer for b’nai mitzvah projects, Girl Scout awards, scout projects, junior honor society and other related programs. Contact The Sharing Shelf if you or your child are interested in volunteering your time.
Social workers, attorneys, teachers and others that submit clothing requests to TSS (this can be done on the Sharing Shelf website) are the ones that pick up and deliver the clothes to the families and see first-hand the impact a bag of gently used clothes can make. Donna Bell, a medical case manager with FSW in Yonkers says, “I hand them their bags and they try on the clothes right then and there, they are so excited about having something new, even if the clothes aren’t new.”
Style Matters
We all know that teens use clothes to express who they are; their style is what defines them and makes them stand out or blend in. Knowing this, Ms. Blatt created a twice yearly event, Teen Boutique, which is a free “shopping” day for girls ages 13-19 from families in financial need. Since 2012, there have been eight Teen Boutique events benefiting hundreds of Westchester County girls. “I’m in awe with each event and how the community comes together to help,” says Blatt. “It’s an opportunity to directly touch the lives of so many in need.”
Teen Boutique takes place in community centers in various parts of Westchester. Each site is decorated and filled with racks of hanging shirts, dresses, sweaters and coats; tables are piled high with jeans, sweats, leggings, PJs and accessories; and there are displays of jewelry, handbags and scarves and even portable dressing rooms. Each teen is given a voucher entitling her to some 40 items. Scores of volunteers are involved; from setting up the events to acting as personal shoppers to helping teens find sizes and coordinating outfits. One volunteer says “at the end of the event we’re one big family, exchanging hugs and taking selfies; it’s an amazing feeling.”
Where it Happens
TSS is located in a warehouse in Port Chester. The front room has wall-to-wall bins of clothes labeled by gender and size and the back room has aisles of labeled shelves filled with neatly folded clothes. At first glance it’s an imposing sight, the amount of clothing is impressive but there is always a need for more clothing, monetary donations and volunteers – volunteers run the entire program. It takes a lot of donations and a lot of volunteers to fill the hundreds of clothing requests TSS receives, especially when the clothes they deliver look as good as new.
Irene Okwit is a Westchester resident and is happy to be working with The Sharing Shelf.
To Donate or Volunteer
The Sharing Shelf
47 Purdy Ave., Port Chester
305-5950
fsw.org/our-programs/the-sharing-shelf
Donations may be left at the Sharing Shelf Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. If they are closed (hours of operation: Tuesday and Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and many Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon), leave your donation inside. Enter the lobby and then the grey door to your right. Put donations in The Sharing Shelf Deliveries box.
Donations of clothing only can also be dropped off at these locations:
FSW Center for All Ages
106 N. Broadway
White Plains, N.Y.
422-8100
Miller’s Toys
335 Mamaroneck Ave.,
Mamaroneck, N.Y.
698-5070
My Healthy Fit
1000 E. Boston Post Road
Mamaroneck, N.Y.
5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
670-0600
Westchester Avenue Tennis
699 Westchester Ave.,
Rye Brook, N.Y.
939-0866
