Clothing Drive Benefits Go Beyond Apparel

Staff Contributor:
Gabrielle Draxler, Teen Librarian & 
Clothing Drive Organizer/Facilitator

Hedberg Public Library folded up its fourth annual Back to School Clothing Drive (August 23, 25, and 26), an opportunity for the community to clean out their closets and then come "shop" for free clothes, shoes, coats, and more. This year, the turnout of donations and participants was outstandingly overwhelming.

In the first day alone, 388 people came to the Clothing Drive, surpassing last year's two-day total of 331. The event continued from 9am-8pm on Monday, and from 9am-2pm on Tuesday as well to provide as much opportunity for patrons to come and collect as possible. At the end of the three-day offering, a total of 684 people attended the Clothing Drive.

People were in disbelief at first, then there was that sign of relief, followed by a little glow of excitement when they heard that everything is free, that there is no limit, just take what you can use. Over the three-day event, I got to hear all of the wonderful feedback, including:

"This is the best day ever, I got so many clothes!"
"I found a jacket that looks like the one Taylor Swift wears!"
"Mom, can I get this? It makes me look like a princess!"
"This just saved me hundreds of dollars and I can't thank you enough."
"I just became a single mom and didn't know how I was going to manage back to school prep. You just saved me."

Donation Collection

Donations opened in late July and ran through the month of August leading up to the event. Library staff were amazed by the generosity of the community as the donation bags and boxes overflowed three storage spaces, making it the largest amount of donations the Drive has ever seen. In addition to new and gently used clothing items for school-aged children through adults, we also receive donations of shoes, coats, winter accessories, and other apparel accessories. 

Donating is one of the goals and opportunities of the Drive, offering an outlet for people's previously loved items that can make an impact on the community. Staff hear from patrons who make donations that they will wait all year to clean out their closet so that they can specifically donate to this program. Others comment that it makes them feel better knowing that someone else will be able to love the items without having to pay the ever-increasing prices of even local thrift shops. 

One patron shared that she has a hard time letting go of things, it causes some anxiety, so over the years she has accumulated a lot of things. She came to the first "shopping" day on Saturday to donate even more items and saw people excited by and taking home the things she had donated. She told me that it made her feel so relieved, happy, and light to know that someone else is going to wear and love those things. She said that it made her want to donate even more next time and that it just felt so good to be able to give. This patron had donated 41 bags of items to the drive and said that not only did she know it would make a big difference for someone else, but that it would make a difference in her home and mental health as well. 

Sorting & Shopping

The day before the event, staff and volunteers helped haul, sort, and organize the items that were donated. Piles were made of boy's, girl's, women's, and men's clothes, and some of those piles reached so high that they were sure to fall over at any moment. Many hands made light work, and the items were able to be sorted and made accessible to excited shoppers. 

Saturday morning, the doors to the Drive opened, and within 15 minutes, 104 people had already come in to "shop" for free. It was quite a frenzy at first, and it stayed busy throughout the day. The rows and rows and rows of shoes, quickly shrank to one row. The precarious piles of boy's clothes quickly disappeared. Winter jackets flew off the hooks as if winter was tomorrow. 

But the best find of all, was a new friendship. There were two women who had individually been chatting with me about the library, about the event, etc., and while they were both browsing and "shopping" they ran into each other and started talking. Later, one of the women came up to me and told me about the other saying how they had similar interests and that they lived only a few blocks from each other. She was talking so fast in excitement as she explained how getting older in today's world is very lonely and she is very excited that she just made a new friend, even in her 70's and can't wait to read and visit the park with her!

Building Community

This event is a full-circle example of building community. It is about giving, letting go of what you no longer use and giving it to someone who can use it without the expectation of payment or reciprocation. It is about the community lending hands to help sort and organize. The community then benefits from it. By removing the financial barrier that even thrift or charity stores often impose, we are enabling our residents to put their financial focus elsewhere. We are also diverting any potential profits from organizations that are not invested in our community. Everyone needs clothes, we change and grow, the seasons change, etc. For kids, feeling good in their clothes helps them focus on their education and do better in school. for adults, feeling good in their clothes can empower them in their career, home, or social life. Each resulting in better actions and results in our community. 

The Drive also supports the community with efforts of repurposing, reusing, and recycling. Fast fashion is a detriment to our environmental health which we all rely on. By donating, reusing, and recycling items properly we are denying fast fashion and empowering environmental consciousness. 

Leftover items are first offered to the Janesville area schools to help fill their Kid Closets that assist students and their families. Items are also taken to local shelters and resource centers that also try to get the items into the hands of those that need them most with as little barrier (financially or accessibility) as possible. Items that were donated but cannot be used (ripped, stained, etc.) will be disposed of with the partnership of a textile recycling organization in order to help divert textile waste from landfills.

Thank You!

We would like to extend a very grateful thank you to all the staff and volunteers that took extra time out of their day to help make this event happen. Your efforts have a positive impact in the lives of many in our community. This is one of our most impactful events of the year and has quickly come to be a staple of annual library offerings. We look forward to seeing you all again next year!