‘Clothing Closet’ available for Washougal families

Free pants, shirts and shoes are available for families in the Washougal School District, through a cooperative effort involving school personnel and volunteers from throughout the community.

The Family Resource Clothing Closet is open from 4 to 6 p.m., on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, or by appointment on another day with one of the district’s Family Resource Coordinators Nancy Boon.

Her office at Hathaway Elementary School used to be so full of donated clothes, visitors could hardly move.

“I had lots of clothing in my office but many requests for sizes beyond what I stocked,” Boon said. “My office is not an efficient space to deal with clothing.”

That is why the Family Resource Clothing Closet opened in February in a portable at Hathaway.

Volunteer scheduling coordinator Pam Clark said it was her dream, along with Boon’s and former Hathaway Principal David Tudor’s wish before he retired at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

Clark said the new Hathaway Principal Sarika Mosley is supportive of the clothing closet, where the available items include clothing, in sizes for infants up to adults’ 2XL, as well as shoes, underclothes and purses.

“One mother came in while I was there and her son is growing so fast she asked if she could bring us some of his clothes he has outgrown,” Clark said. “He found two sacks full of things and a pair of boots that he will grow into very soon. We love having people recycling their things they outgrow.”

The most needed items are children’s clothing of all sizes, according to Boon.

The Family Resource Clothing Closet will be open during the summer.

Volunteers have included Girl Scouts and parents of Hathaway students. Additional assistance is needed to sort and arrange the donations.

Girl Scout Cadette Troop 40605, of Washougal, is using money they earned from recent Girl Scout cookie sales to purchase socks and underwear for the Family Resource Clothing Closet.

Cadette Natalie Galloway, 13, of Washougal, recently helped organize shoes based on size at the closet.

“It’s cool to help others who can’t afford to buy their own clothes all the time,” she said.