Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403240235
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF STEBBINS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Esther Brown, coordinator of the closet, said she has only about eight or 10 volunteers she can count on and would like to get more so the regulars don't have to work so hard.
Help is needed, she said, mainly on Monday mornings from 9 to about noon when donated clothes are sorted. Low-income people in need of clothes visit the closet on Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and noon.
The closet serves Salem and the counties of Roanoke, Craig, Botetourt and Montgomery. Brown said it does not serve people in Roanoke because there are several clothes closets in the city available to them.
Many of the people who get clothes from the closet are referred by social service agencies and churches, but Brown said the closet is open to any needy individual.
In 1993, the closet served 238 families that represented up to an estimated 400 people, said Ray Brown, the closet's main record keeper.
Clothes and shoes are donated by churches, other groups and individuals.
He said the closet also handles other household goods such as towels, sheets, curtains, draperies, cooking utensils and working appliances.
Operating in the same quarters with the clothes closet is the Community Shoe Fund sponsored by the United Methodist Women at First United Methodist. It seeks money donations to buy shoes for children up to age 16.
Children who cannot be fitted from the clothes closet shoe supply are given vouchers worth $25 which can be used as money at Kmart stores. Brown said that last year the fund issued 80 vouchers that were used for 177 pairs of shoes.
People who wish to become volunteers with the clothes closet can visit it on Monday or Wednesday mornings or call Brown through the church at 389-5459. First United Methodist Church is on Salem's West Main Street a short distance west of Union Street.
by CNB