Linda Lannan, project manager at the Clothing Center at Minnie’s Maison in Davenport, puts shirts on a rack outside Aug. 29.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Curbside clothing giveaways continue at the Clothing Center at Minnie’s Maison. The free clothing center is an outreach of Sacred Heart Cathedral.
“We are still doing outdoor giveaways on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon,” said Connie Moreno, the center’s president. Customers can select what they want from racks outdoors and other items on the house’s porch. Customers also can submit a form in advance of the items they need. Volunteers pack the items in bags, which customers pick up during the outdoor giveaway times. Forms are available at the front of the house in a drop box, in person at the giveaways and online at https://www.clothingcenterqca.com/.
In 2019, the center served 8,500 people, an increase of 6 percent over 2018. Children make up half of the customers served. “All qualify as low income,” Moreno said. “Over the years, we have found that some children have immediate clothing needs, especially kids who have an emergency foster placement. To help, we open by appointment so case workers can shop for the kids in their care.”
Previously, racks filled up with clothing but the center often lacked what a young child needed, such as pants, socks and underwear. “To remedy this situation, the Crisis Kits program launched in 2018 to assure that we have the clothes a child needs. Social workers complete a referral; volunteers mobilize to ‘shop’ for donated clothing, supplemented with items purchased from local stores. Donated items come from the community, Underwear Because We Care, Coats for Kids, a local dentist, All Saints Catholic School and St. Ambrose University.”
Board members decided at their Aug. 27 meeting not to open the center or donation shed at this point because of the pandemic. The center might not fully reopen this year.
The center welcomes volunteers for at-home office work, marketing, social media editing, hands-on filling of orders and assisting with bag distribution by calling (563) 362-0915.
More from the Catholic Messenger
