This past weekend, two of my fellow colleagues and I volunteered at the North Fulton Charity in Alpharetta, Georgia. This charity organization’s mission is to “prevent homelessness in North Fulton by supporting families in their homes during short-term emergencies” (NFCC website). The organization has many volunteer opportunities including a food pantry, office assistant for clients, transportation, monetary aid, and the clothing closet. My colleagues and I chose to donate our time at the clothing closet, sorting through donated clothes, replenishing the thrift store racks with the sorted garments and assisting customers.
Upon our arrival, we noticed a diverse clientele in the store. The store provided clothing for men, women, and children. The clothes styles ranged from casual (jeans, t-shirts, etc.) to more formal, business attire. The store also contained some furniture and home furnishings, shoes and accessories, and a small area near the back of the stor e of children’s toys.
The team of workers directed us to the donation area for the sorting of items, explaining to us that nothing was wasted at this center. Clothes were either displayed for sale here or used as donations to other third world countries.
We were clearly amazed at how many of the donations were brand new items (still with store tags attached). The assumption is that because Alpharetta is a more affluent area, donations were actually purchased items specifically for the center.
The need for low cost clothing was evident with each rack of clothes my friends and I brought into the store for stocking. Oftentimes, many of the customers could not wait for us to put them on the shelf, instead sifting through the rack for the best items.
Helping the center was a very gratifying experience. We were able to not only provide a service to the center itself, but we were also able to interact with the customers and see one of their needs being met.
I would recommend the experience to everyone as it reminds us how lucky we are for the blessings in our own lives.
Thank you,
Jennifer Koch
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia USA
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