A great way to clean out a closet

There is a big, yellow, donation bin in the parking lot of the church to which I belong.  The bestowed clothing is sorted by volunteers, put on hangers, and tastefully displayed on racks in our thrift store.

On the first Saturday of every month, a Super Sale is held where all clothing sells for $1.   While this may seem like a ridiculously cheap price, if $300 is earned, that means that 300 pieces of clothing are gone to make way for 300 more, and the money earned is shared with the community for unmet needs.  It is a win-win situation all around but may be the biggest win for savvy shoppers.

The bequeathing community who fills this donation bin is largely on the wealthier side of the spectrum, thus the store is filled with name-brand, quality, and vintage clothing.  A bright green Izod golf shirt hangs beside spotlessly clean white Ralph Lauren golf shorts. A bright yellow Nautica Polo knit shirt still has the $49.99 price tag dangling from the nape, and a light blue Michal Kors jacket hangs nearby. A well dressed, non-golfing golfer obviously donated these never used items, accompanied by a Titleist hat to match, which sat in a rack above the clothing.

The amount of men’s clothing dwarfs in comparison to the quality women’s clothing hanging on a multitude of racks in another room. A brightly colored, elegant box-jacket suit from the 60’s adorned the mannequin and would have looked best accompanied by a bright yellow pillbox hat with an orange flower.  Alas, the only pillbox hat in the store was a boring navy blue with a white flower, although its mere appearance thrilled many a shopper who tried it on just for laughs. It did match several quality navy blue dresses made by Ann Klein and Talbots, but no one made that connection.  These dresses, size two, were of limited interest to the thrift store shoppers, most of whom were a size twelve or larger. One mini-dress, opulently sporting orange and pink flowers and huge, flared sleeves was reminiscent of something Goldie Hawn would have worn on the television show “Laugh In” and would make a great Halloween costume for a discerning shopper. 

Men’s two- and three-piece suits were in abundance, regularly donated by families who needed to clean out closets after the loss of a grandfather. They were accompanied by ugly ties of every color and shape, and winged tipped oxford shoes. Were another “Godfather” movie to be made in Rhode Island, the thrift shop could easily outfit the actors.  

The section with skirts spanned all of the generations, starting with the straight, tweed material that reached the knees, the full skirts of the 50’s, (with one actually adorned with a pink poodle,) the long, Bohemian style skirts of the 60’s, along with the miniskirts that still seem to be the style among teenagers.

The most space was dedicated to ever-popular jeans.  Six full racks of the iconic denim-wear boasted jeans in every size and shape.  Bell bottoms and flared bottoms joined boot-cut and skinny leg dungarees, size two up to size twenty-two. As quickly as these items sold out, they were replaced by the ever-flowing river of jeans that had been placed in the donation bin.

Any church donation bin welcomes clean, quality clothing that can be resold for a charitable cause. What easier way is there to make an endowment for the good of the community?  It not only benefits others, but it is a great way to clean out closets and basements, which leaves more room for any new purchases….