Hello to all. We began providing summer clothes on May 13, and in our first two client days we served 110 families and almost 300 children! The significant need for our services in our community is greater than ever. We continue to bring in new clients and have seen the return of others we have not seen for some time – in some cases, years. We have a total of about 1600 families registered. As summer moves forward, we anticipate strong attendance and will no doubt see our usual shortage in boys’ shorts, all sizes from toddler through teen, and appreciate your donations.
We continue to be blessed by many individuals and organizations in our community. Recently, management members of several American Eagle stores, in Harrisonburg and beyond, came to help sort and tag clothes. What a gift to have professional retailers donating their time! We also once again thank all the men who have worked tirelessly for months to finish our wonderful new deck and ramp – it looks fantastic.
We are so grateful to Bridgewater UMC’s Women of Faith for hosting their annual banquet on May 18 in Artie Frederick’s honor and collecting clothing and cash donations for the children’s clothes closet. The keynote speaker was Alisia Garcia, who shared her inspirational story about how our clothes closet helped her through her challenging years as a teen mom. She is one of our own, and we were all so thrilled when she graduated from JMU a few years ago! Now she is a social worker at Sentara and represents many client families who need our clothes, diapers and emotional support. Her presentation was amazing and uplifting to see the faces of so many other teen moms and families who benefit from the children’s clothes closet through Alisia’s work, although we may not see them in person. Somehow, we had not fully realized our scope – our mission is exponential in the community! She assured us that we have touched many lives well beyond our awareness. Praise God! And thank you to Artie, all our dedicated volunteers and the many people who help us through prayers and donations. All are a part of this beautiful story that God has written. We look forward with hope and faith to the next chapters.
Donna Tinsley