Clothing Drives
If you're interested in hosting a clothing drive on behalf of Clothed by Faith, please email us first to learn about our current needs and requirements:
📍Katy – branchmanagerkaty@clothedbyfaith.org 📍Deer Park – branchmanagerdeerpark@clothedbyfaith.org
In response to requests from individuals and the agencies we partner with, we assemble a week’s worth of clothing, shoes, and new socks and underwear. Each item is carefully sorted, selected, and packaged by volunteers—specifically for each client—in a way that offers hope and restores dignity.
As you can see from this description, donations of used and gently used clothing and shoes and NEW socks and undergarments are vital to our ability to serve our clients.
OUR QUALITY STANDARDS
Because we strive to dignify our clients with the gift of high-quality, gently used clothing, we ask that all used clothing be in excellent condition. Specific guidelines include:
👚 CLOTHING:
Clothing should be new or gently worn.
A good rule of thumb we often share with volunteers who are sorting clothing is “If you wouldn’t wear it, —or wouldn’t want your family member to wear it—it’s not appropriate to include in a client’s bag.”
Specifically, clothing must be:
clean and free from stains
without rips, tears or holes
have working zippers and no missing buttons
not too badly worn
modest in appearance with no inappropriate slogans or wording
WE WILL NOT ACCEPT :
❌ clothing with a distinct smell or anything that is covered with animal hair/fur
❌ clothing with date-specific events; e.g. Houston Marathon 2017, sports camps, etc.
❌ clothing with skulls & Halloween-themed design
❌ used socks, undergarments or pajamas
❌ used swimwear
❌ used baseball caps
👟 SHOES:
Shoes should also be gently used and practical for everyday wear. Tennis shoes/sneakers and similar styles are ideal. For women, flats or small heels are preferred. Shoes should:
be clean on the inside
not be too worn or scuffed
have inside linings that are intact & without holes
have soles and/or heels that are well attached
be free of strong orders
🧦 SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR:
Socks and underwear must be NEW.
AFTER ITEMS ARE COLLECTED
Clothing and shoes brought to Clothed by Faith should be sorted as follows and placed in trash bags (13-gallon bags work best)—no boxes, please.
👚 CLOTHING:
Examine the clothing to ensure it meets the standards described above. Remember: if you wouldn’t wear it—or wouldn’t want your family member to wear it—it’s not suitable for our clients.
Remove all clothing from hangers and plastic dry-cleaning bags.
Clothing that meets our standards should be separated by age and gender into boys’, girls’, men’s, and women’s categories. Each category should be placed into kitchen-sized trash bags (larger bags get very heavy and are difficult for you and us to handle!) and labeled with its contents.
Clothing that does not meet our requirements can be placed in similar bags and labeled “Recycling.” CBF strives to be good stewards of everything given to us. Items that cannot be used in client bags may be sold to a commercial recycler, helping offset the cost of providing clothing.
Exception: Clothing with strong odors or covered in animal hair/fur must be thrown away. We cannot accept these, even for recycling
👟 SHOES:
Examine the shoes to ensure they meet the standards described above.
Clean off any loose soil or debris.
If shoes have laces, tie them together. If not, secure them with a rubber band
If you have a large number of shoes, it’s helpful to separate them into boys’, girls’, men’s, and women’s categories and bag them accordingly.
🧦 SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR:
If you’ve collected new socks and underwear, please unpackage and sort them by gender and size.
Individually roll each pair and place five pairs of the same gender and size into a quart-sized (children) or gallon-sized (adults) storage bag.
Label each bag clearly with the size and gender using a Sharpie.
TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CLOTHING DRIVE
Who will you ask for donations? You might consider asking friends, family, classmates, people in your neighborhood or at your place of worship. Please exercise caution and do not approach strangers for donations without an adult present.
Where will you ask for donations? You may host your drive at home or in a community space. If using a public or shared area, be sure to get permission and consider safety precautions.
How will you spread the word? A simple poster or a social media post can go a long way. If you’d like to include our logo with your materials, you can download it at the bottom of this page
What materials do you need?
Kitchen-size trash bags for collecting clothing and shoes (larger bags get very heavy!)
Sharpies
If new socks and/or underwear are collected:
Gallon and quart-size Zip-loc style storage bags
