Operating our monthly Kids Clothes Closet has been more challenging than usual, but it doesn't mean we gave up. When coronavirus invaded a year ago, we were scrambling to know how best to respond to continue to serve while keeping people safe. Our generous congregation and community have consistently provided us with quality used clothing and new underwear and socks, but suddenly distribution became our biggest problem. We ended up closing our regular monthly shopping sessions and offering by-appointment-only meetings. This was used by fewer people, and our supplies soared.
In August we moved our clothing to the parking lot. We kept the clothing sorted by size and by gender so it still felt like a shopping experience. Church members stepped up to manage and organize tables. We gave away hundreds of articles of clothing and still had tubs to spare. So, we partnered up with a school in Omaha and hauled our tubs there for another parking lot event. We shared and recycled the abundance of our Clothes Closet with dozens of families.
From that we stepped into our annual new coat giveaway. Again in our parking lot, we, along with the Adel Rotary, St. John's Catholic Church, and the Adel Women's Club, distributed over 250 coats, plus many hats, mittens, boots, and snow pants.
Once again our supply is building up, and we continue to seek opportunities to walk the walk. Most recently, we have bagged up outfits for school-aged students and delivered them to a school nurse who saw a need and taken our overrun of adult winter coats to Joppa. We still have individual appointments and are looking forward to opening up more as spring progresses. We have been so richly blessed.
—Della Weems, Outreach Chair, First Christian Church of Adel, IA