Outreach in Action: Free Store donors ensure fresh selection of clothing and household items

by Jo Mayer and Paul Crandall

Stockbridge Community Outreach is very popular during the winter—particularly with people who have cleaned out their closets and drawers and want to donate their treasures to the “Free Store.”

The store resides in a classroom of the old middle school. Its ever-changing inventory includes clothing, shoes, boots, outerwear, sportswear, dishes, pots, pans, bedding, towels, some toys, baby paraphernalia, and small household appliances like toasters, microwaves, hand mixers, and more.

Everything in the store is free to whomever needs it, no matter where they live or what their income is—no I.D. or approvals required.

To help cope with limited storage space and to keep from overwhelming our Outreach volunteers, we ask our generous donors to consider some guidelines:

• Outreach accepts donated clothing and household goods during open hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1-3 p.m. and by appointment (call: 517-851-7285 or emailing outreach49285@gmail.com).
• Please limit clothing donations to 5 bags per day; this gives volunteers time and space to sort and display the items.
• Because storage space is expensive and limited, please focus on donating seasonally appropriate clothing.
• Please consider the condition of clothing that you are donating. Clean, gently used clothing and new clothing is appreciated. Outreach does not have laundry facilities.
• For larger household items, please call the Outreach office to inquire about donating options.
• Please do not leave clothing outside the building when Outreach is closed.

Clothing and goods that we can’t keep at our store for whatever reason are generally taken by our volunteers to Goodwill in Chelsea.

On any given Monday, Wednesday or Friday afternoon, you may find two to four volunteers receiving and sorting clothing, sprucing up the store, creating suggested ensembles from donated clothes, or culling items that have been hanging around for more than a couple of months. The Free Store recently got a bit of a facelift when volunteer Carrie Holmes created new signage for all the racks and shelves.

Pictured here among Free Store clothing racks boasting new signage are volunteers Linda Dyer, left, and Meg Redfern. Photo credit: Jo Mayer

Outreach volunteer Barbara White, right, and volunteer coordinator, Lori Hendrick, help organize the clothing room. Photo credit: Kim Gebhard

This column is sponsored by Stockbridge Community Outreach. Our local food pantry, crisis, and referral center is located in the Stockbridge Activity Center (old middle school) near Cherry and Elm streets in Stockbridge. Office hours are 1-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and by appointment. Outreach49285@gmail.com, 517-851-7285, or find us on Facebook.