Clothing Drives
Please check with charity@clothedbyfaith.org before starting a clothing drive to see what our specific needs are at that time.
In response to requests from individuals and the social agencies we partner with, Clothed by Faith assembles a week’s worth of clothing, shoes and new socks and underwear. The clothing and shoes are carefully sorted, selected and packaged by volunteers specifically for each client in a manner that offers them hope and a sense of dignity.
As you can see from this description, donations of used and gently used clothing and shoes and NEW socks and undergarments are vital to our ability to serve our clients. Our hope is that these instructions will give you all the information you/your group need to conduct a successful clothing drive for CBF.
OUR QUALITY STANDARDS
Because we strive to dignify our clients with the gift of high-quality, gently used clothing, we ask that all used clothing be in excellent condition. Specific guidelines include:
CLOTHING:
Clothing should be new or gently worn.
A good rule of thumb we often share with volunteers who are sorting clothing is “if you wouldn’t wear it, or want your family member to wear it, it’s not appropriate to include in a client’s bag.”
Specifically, clothing must be:
clean and free from stains
without rips, tears or holes
working zippers and not missing buttons
not too badly worn
modest in appearance with no inappropriate slogans or wording
We do not accept:
Clothing with a distinct smell or anything that is covered with animal hair/fur
clothing with date-specific events; example Houston Marathon 2017, sports camps, etc
clothing with skulls & Halloween-themed design
used socks, undergarments or pajamas
used swimwear
used baseball caps
SHOES:
Shoes should also be gently used and should be practical for everyday wear; tennis shoes/sneakers and similar shoes are ideal. For women, flats or small heels are preferred. Shoes should:
be clean on the inside
not be too worn or scuffed
have inside linings that are intact & without holes
have soles and/or heels that are well attached
be free of strong orders
SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR:
Socks and underwear must be NEW.
AFTER ITEMS ARE COLLECTED
Clothing and shoes brought to Clothed by Faith should be sorted as follows and placed in trash bags (13 gallon bags work best) – no boxes please:
CLOTHING:
Please examine the clothing you have collected to ensure it meets the standards described above. Remember, if you would not want to wear it, or wouldn’t want your child to wear it, it is not suitable for us to give our clients.
Please remove all clothing from hangers and plastic dry-cleaning bags.
Clothing that meets our standards should be separated by age and gender into boys’, girls’, men’s and women’s categories. Each category should be placed into kitchen-sized trash bags (larger bags get very heavy and are difficult for you and us to handle!) and the bags should be labeled with the category of its contents.
Clothing that does not meet our requirements can be placed in similar bags and labeled “Recycling.” CBF strives to be good stewards of everything given to us. If an item of clothing cannot be used in our client bags, that item can be sold to a commercial recycler that works with us. The money we receive doing this defrays some of the cost of providing each bag of clothing we give our clients. There is one exception however, clothing with strong orders or are covered with animal hair or fur must be thrown away. We cannot accept these even for recycling.
SHOES:
Please examine the shoes you have collected to ensure they meet the standards described above.
Please clean off any loose soil or debris.
If shoes have laces, please tie them together. If they do not have ties, please put them together with a rubber band. If you have a large number of shoes, it is helpful if you separate them into boys’, girls’, men’s and women’s and place them in separate bags.
SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR:
If you have also collected new socks and underwear for us, please unpackage socks and underwear and sort each by gender and size.
Individually roll up each pair of socks or underwear and place five pairs of socks or underwear of the same gender and size in a quart (children) or gallon-sized (adults) storage bag. Please use a Sharpie to label the bag with the size and gender of its contents.
TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CLOTHING DRIVE
Who will you ask for donations? You might consider asking friends, family, classmates, people in your neighborhood or at your place of worship. Please exercise caution and do not approach strangers for donations without an adult present.
Where will you ask for donations? You may base your drive in your home, or you may want to set up in a community area. Before doing so, please obtain prior permission or authorization is you are in a community or public area. Please be sure that you are careful of safety considerations if you are in a public area.
How do I let people know about my drive? You can make something as simple as a poster or use social media to let your friends know you are collecting donations. If you like, we’re happy to provide you with promotional materials about Clothed by Faith.
What materials do you need? Bags to collect the donations (kitchen-size trash bags work great; larger bags get very heavy when full of clothes or shoes). If you are going to package socks and underwear, you will need “Zip-loc” - type storage bags and Sharpies.
