Volunteers provide new clothes to schoolchildren — and launch learning and confidence

Oct 12, 2023

Reporter

Peggy Seskey, Mary Ann Green and Patty Swenson sort clothes at the Assistance League of Chaves County Thrift Store on Tuesday. The funds from the thrift store are used to buy new clothes for schoolchildren.

When Alice arrived at the Assistance League of Chaves County Thrift Store on Tuesday, she knew she would find the perfect professional blouse to give her confidence to ace her upcoming job interview.

Cars filled the parking lot outside the thrift store as folks came out on a hot day to shop the 75% off sale — “fabulous finds” reads one sign — all benefiting two programs, Operation School Bell and Backpacks for the Homeless.

The thrift store is run entirely by volunteers. Around noontime on Tuesday, Peggy Seskey, Patty Swenson and Mary Ann Green sort clothing at the front desk and chat with customers. The women have the energy of people with a purpose — and in this case, their mission is taking care of kids and underserved members of our community. Swenson’s purple eyeglasses frame her kind eyes; Seskey speaks in a soothing tone.

A woman in a red pullover buys a stack of clean, work-appropriate shirts while roughly 10 other adults search the racks of quality pants and tops. “It’s our changeover from summer to winter,” explains Seskey. A rack of colorful handbags and purses captures the eye. In a few weeks, turtlenecks and other warm weather gear will be on display.

The funds from the thrift store serve Operation School Bell, which supplies clothes, shoes, books and hygiene products to Chaves County public school students who need support. Attending school with clean, fashionable clothes and shoes provides students security and a boost in self-esteem — both precursors to learning.

Kids who receive the new clothes feel assured and recognized as important members of our community. They embrace learning with the confidence of belonging.

“We already got 80 students this week,” Seskey says. The team of volunteers outfits children at a different site with brand new clothing that includes jeans or pants, a jacket, shirts, undergarments, socks, a hygiene care kit, a gift card for a new pair of shoes and a book.

Volunteers purchase the new clothes for Operation School Bell with the proceeds from the thrift shop — itself another opportunity to find clean, contemporary clothes. Almost all the garments are under $3; suits and jackets are a dollar or two more. Paperback books are a quarter. “Everything’s reasonable.”

Next week, the store will have a bag sale — $4 a bag, and not the smaller plastic bags from the grocery store we use to usher soup cans and bananas to the car. “Big kitchen bags,” Seskey says, the kind you would use to collect trash in your kitchen.

The Assistance League volunteers also help women from Dress for Success and WESST find clothes to boost their self-confidence — women like Alice who want to feel polished when they’re interviewing for a job. “Some of the career-oriented organizations for women send them over here to find clothes to wear for their interviews," Seskey details.

The fashions the women find are often given for free. “We’re a community,” Seskey emphasizes. Helping women find work within the community is another way their efforts pay off.

The Assistance League of Chaves County is a nonprofit organization that makes our community a better place. “We’ve got a lot of different things going on with Assistance League. A lot of projects. It takes more than just a few people to get all this done.” The last count was 60 voting members on the board, and all members volunteer at least once a month.

The volunteers restock the thrift store every Monday, and the store is open Tuesday-Friday 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. “We stay pretty busy those hours,” Seskey reports. Saturday hours begin mid-September after the changeover from summer to winter clothes.

There is a need for donations of clean, good-quality clothes to help people like Alice feel self-confident in job interviews and provide funds for Operation School Bell and Backpacks for the Homeless. People can bring their donated items directly to the Assistance League of Chaves County Thrift Store, located at 100 North Union Avenue.

For more information and to get involved, see assistanceleague.org/chaves-county.

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