By Rebekah Ellis
Murphy News Service
Every Wednesday evening from September through May neatly organized racks of clothing, shoes and accessories are rolled into the lower level of Community of the Cross Lutheran Church in Bloomington.
The church’s Community Clothes Line Center accepts clothing donations, sorts it by gender, size and style to make them available for members of the Bloomington community, free of charge or questions.
“Starting at 6:30 (p.m.), we often have people lining up outside the door,” Jennifer Rodgers, the program’s co-coordinator, said.
The volunteer-run program started in 2005. Its continued success indicates there is a need, Pam Gilbertson, who previously ran the program, said.
“When we first started setting this up, I was happy that we were doing something that would help the people in our community,” Gilbertson said. “A lot of times, as a church, you collect donations to send to Africa, and I thought it was really nice to do something right here for our neighborhood.”
Families come to the Community Clothes Line Center for a variety of reasons beyond the basic need for adequate clothing. Volunteers have seen foster parents take children who are wearing the only clothes they own; families who have experienced emergencies such as fires, and people who came to Minnesota following Hurricane Katrina and who need winter clothes.
Getting enough donations to meet demand can be challenging, so, to ensure there are enough clothing items to go around, clients are allowed to each fill one bag per visit.
“We accept donations from anyone in the community who wants to bring them to our church during regular business hours,” Gretchen Godfrey, who runs the program with Rodgers, said.
During the spring, the center typically sees 15-20 people each night, and when school starts in the fall, the average attendance is 25.
“We need childrens’ clothes. Of all sizes. Boys are the hardest– they’re hard on their clothes. that is our biggest need,” Gilbertson said. “When we get it, it goes.”
Rebekah Ellis is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.