The Tabernacle Home and School Association’s used clothing drive gives families the perfect reason to do some “spring cleaning.”
Gently used items for the drive are being collected until Dec. 3. A trailer in the back of Kenneth R. Olson Middle School is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, for donation drop-off. The HSA requests items be enclosed in clear trash bags.
The following items are being collected: men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and shoes; handbags; backpacks; winter weather wear; belts; pillows; bedding; stuffed animals; and bicycles. No baby equipment will be accepted.
Clothing also can be dropped off in the lobbies of the middle school and elementary school.
“It goes to the American Used Clothing Corporation in Carteret,” said Donna O’Malley, coordinator of the drive. “They provide the goods to developing countries. They set up stores for someone who is poverty-stricken.”
The stores that are set up in the developing countries, O’Malley added, provide the residents there a way to obtain goods they wouldn’t have had access to. A portion of the proceeds the corporation makes from the stores comes back to New Jersey to help fund food pantries.
Another benefit of the drive is that the HSA receives $0.15 per pound of items. The association averages about $300 per collection drive, and organizers are hoping for a similar outcome this year.
“The money we collect goes to help our programs in the school and address students’ needs,” O’Malley said. “It’s an easy fundraiser to do.”
The fundraiser occurs twice a school year, once in November and again in May. The HSA plans to have the drop-off trailer at the Family Holiday Palooza from 6 to 9 p.m., Nov. 22 , at OMS.
For more information on the drive, visit TabSchools.org or Facebook.com/TabernacleHSA.
