Kids’ Clothing Drive 2021 – It worked!

We are finished with our Kids’ Clothing Drive for 2021.  And we are excited to say – that although the Covid-adapted format was not our favorite – it worked!!!   THANK YOU to all who signed up to help out with this drive and for arriving promptly to make your donations.  We were able to turn around the donations received on the morning of April 24 and hand that all out that same afternoon!   It really worked!

We are especially appreciative that the TESD let us use the Maintenance Building to hold the event.  With the sunny and warm skies helping – we could basically hold this outside (or in the garage buildings with the doors all open) which made the social distancing that much easier.  Special thanks also to the students from the CHS Girls and Boys Rugby teams for giving up their Saturday morning to come help with the unloading of all the donations.  Some even had to be there at 7:45am.  Talk about dedication to their neighbors!  And a true hats off to the amazing committee that pulled this off – chaired by Chris Wells.  The committee list is below – each volunteer did her job with energy and enthusiasm and it really showed!

Check out this article from the IN T/E magazine as well as the pictures below to see your donations in action (click on one to make them all bigger)!  With tons of donations and about $10,000 in gift cards we were able to make a difference to over 100 local kids, and they truly are thankful.  Some thank you notes we’ve received already include:

I cried again. Thank you so much. Everything will fit just perfectly and the kids will feel confident in clothes that fit well. The gift cards are much appreciated. Love to you all.

Thank you so much! Our daughter’s birthday is this week. She will be the best dressed girl in middle school!????

Thank you all so much for the incredible new wardrobes for my boys.  And for acting as personal shoppers to get them exactly what they needed and wanted.  The clothes are wonderful—they are thrilled.  The sizes are great and the quiet colors are exactly what they like.  The dress clothes will allow them to participate in more social events and fit in. The gift cards will get them some special things they wanted. Thank you!

I just wanted to send a BIG THANK YOU to all of the T&E Care community for all of the generous donations of the clothing for my young daughter! She was so excited when she saw the clothing for the upcoming season! She loved it all ????. Thank you again! God Bless all of you. We truly appreciate it!

Other special thanks to:

 

VOLUNTEERS

The dedicated volunteers who ran this year’s event included:

Chris Wells – chair
Jeanette Alwine – thanks notes
Jennifer Arnott – volunteers
Jacqui Cosgrove – Sign Up Genius
Amanda Ivory – donations
Stacy Stone – deliveries
Monica Thomson  – gift cards

 

Return to current year’s Kids’ Clothing Event page.

Donors line up to drop off clothes

Lots of donations!

CHS Rugby girls lend a hand

More donations

CHS Rugby boys help out

Even more donations!

Volunteers from the CHS Rugby team take a break between drop offs

Clothing Drive 2021

Getting the clothes ready to be handed out.

Event Chair Chris Wells with Sandi Gorman

Clothing Drive 2020 – the results

Because our annual clothing drive was schedule to happen right when coronavirus outbreak started, T&E Care had to cancel the event.  We did store the clothes that had already been collected, and in July 2020 a handful of volunteers got those clothes sorted and distributed to the 80+ local kids needing this support.  Thanks to T/E Middle School for loaning us the cafeteria to do the sorting, and to all those who joined in to help with the event.  Special thanks to chair Lisa Davis for her many years of volunteering on behalf of the drive – she will be stepping down now that it is over.  Thanks also to Carol Tompkins who has been with us from the start coordinating volunteers, and is also stepping down.  We welcomed Chris Wells (chair) and Jacqui Cosgrove (volunteers) to fill those large voids.  Thanks as always to Amanda Ivory, Jen Arnott, Stacy Stone, and Jeanette Alwine for their efforts with the drive.  They are amazing folks!!  We also were thrilled to have Monica Thomson (teens) and Jami Barnett join us this year!  It was a true team effort to get everything sorted and delivered on one day!  We all have our fingers crossed that we’ll be back to the normal routine in 2021!

Questions should be sent to clothes@tecare.org.

The 2019 KIDS’ CLOTHING EVENT – ANOTHER SUCCESS!

The 2019 Kids’ Clothing Event is history – but not without amazing results yet again.  Almost 1000 bags of clothes were dropped off at the schools, the libraries, or the private sites between March 20-29!  That’s a LOT of clothes to sort!  But sort we did – with many groups doing presorting and then the volunteers coming to the church on April 3 and 4 to get everything laid out for the event itself.  We had hundreds of shoppers on April 4 and 5 at the event and we feel good that lots of folks who really needed clothes walked out with full bags.  PLUS we raised over $5400 in the process!

Special thanks again to St. Matthews United Methodist Church for hosting this event.  They are so very gracious letting us take over their lobby and community room for this important event.  If you have any questions about this event feel free to contact us at clothes@tecare.org.

THANKS to all the groups and businesses who lent a hand with this year’s event!  We appreciate the support of everyone! 

  • St. Matthews United Methodist Church – our amazing host!!!
  • Abby Schwartz Associates – printing of posters
  • Tredyffrin and Easttown Libraries – public collection sites
  • All the TESD schools – public collection sites
  • Berwyn United Methodist Nursery School (BUMS) – private collection site
  • Montessori Children’s House – private collection site
  • Wayne United Methodist Church (Lane Montessori) – private collection site
  • Trinity Preschool of Berwyn – private collection site
  • Mom’s Club – private collection site
  • Tarleton – private collection site
  • Charleston, Kelly, & Associates – private collection site
  • Wallace & Nilan Physical Therapy – private collection site
  • St. Matthew’s Methodist Church (Wayne Early Learning Center) – private collection site
  • Phamily Orthodontics – private collection site
  • Wayne Sporting Goods – clothing
  • The Saturday Club – clothing racks and sorters
  • Boy Scout Troop Devon 50 – help hauling clothing bags
  • CHS Girls Lacrosse Team – presort clothes
  • CHS Girls Softball Team – presort clothes
  • USLI volunteers – helping with clean up
  • Trader Joe’s – food for volunteers
  • Panera Bread – food for volunteers
  • Jimmy Johns – sandwiches for volunteers
  • HG Coal Fired Pizza – pizzas for volunteers
  • Elegance Bakery – food for volunteers
  • Starbucks – food for volunteers
  • Girl Scout Troop 4143 (VFMS) – for donating 32 boxes of cookies as part of their Hometown Hero program

VOLUNTEERS

Thanks to the amazing Kids’ Clothing Event committee who pull this event together:

Lisa Davis – chair
Carol Tompkins – volunteers
Amanda Ivory – donations
Jeanette Alwine – church set up
Stacy Stone – store posters/volunteer food
Karen Cruickshank – street signs
Karen Celebuski – pod/clean-up
Jean Allen – clothing racks
Jennifer Arnott – church liaison

Our 2019 Teen Shop coordinator:
Fiona Kurtz

Our 2019 School coordinators:
BES – Patty Neeb and Nadia Gerard
DES – Christina Arnault
HES – Kirsten McFarland
NEES – Amiee Quinn
VFES – Amanda Miller and Kim Jamme
VFMS – Danyll Lockett, Lisa Buraks, Bernie Logan, Amanda Ivory
TEMS – Jen Bracco, Beth Breault, Jodi DePhillipo

Some great pictures from the 2019 Clothing Drive

Kids’ Clothing Event 2018 – The Results

The spring 2018 Kids’ Clothing Event was held Thursday, April 19 from 4-8, and Friday, April 20 from 9-12 at St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church of Valley Forge at 600 Walker Rd.  We had a record number of folks come looking for clothes, and we are positive that we were able to offer significant assistance to many of them.   Thanks to all those who donated the clothes, sorted the clothes, transported the clothes, and worked at the event itself.  Over 250 volunteers were needed to pull this off – and we thank each and every one of them.  Clothes were collected from April 4-13 at various sites around the community – including all the TESD schools and the Tredyffrin Library and the Easttown Library.   We collected clothes for all seasons, from infant through teens.  All left over clothes were donated to either the local Maternity Coalition (especially helping low income moms with newborns) or Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  Both groups were very thankful for this partnership.  Check the thank you list below to see who deserves your appreciation, and the pictures to see what the event was all about.  Questions?  Contact us at clothes@tecare.org. 

THANKS TO ALL WHO SUPPORTED OUR CLOTHING EVENT

We really appreciate the support of all the individuals who donated clothes as well as those who gave up time to help out with the clothing drive – whether as a sorter, a driver, a donor, a poster hanger, etc.  A special shout out to the various groups, organizations, and businesses who lent a hand.  Of course the biggest shout out is to St. Matthews United Methodist Church (Wayne) for being our host extraordinaire – for the 7th year in a row!!!  They not only provided the space for almost a whole week, but they also had volunteers serving pretzels and water to incoming shoppers on our main day!  So very special!  Other key supporters include:

  • The Profile Image – for printing all the street signs to help us advertise the event.  They were a HUGE supporter!
  • Abby Schwartz Associates – for doing all the printing of the posters used to help us advertise the event – another huge supporter!
  • Paoli Hardware – for donating the large trash bags we use for the event clean up.
  • Valley Forge Running Company – for donating shoes for the event.
  • Wayne Sporting Goods – for donating clothing for the event.
  • All the TESD Schools and the Easttown and Tredyffrin Libraries for agreeing to host public collection locations again this year.
  • Conestoga High School – for laminating some of the table signs needed for the event.
  • Big Brothers and Big Sisters – for picking up any left over donations.
  • Wallace & Nilan Physical Therapy – for being a private collection location
  • The Law Office of Lisa Charleston – for being a private collection location and for donating soft pretzels for the volunteers
  • Berwyn United Methodist Church Preschool – for being a private collection location
  • The Malvern School – for being a private collection location
  • Lane Montessori at Wayne United Methodist Church – for being a private collection location
  • Johnson Matthey – for being a private collection location
  • Montessori Children’s House – for being a private collection location
  • The CHS Girls Lacrosse and Field Hockey teams – for helping to sort all the donations dropped off at the libraries.
  • As They Grow – for general support of the clothing event
  • Elegance (Paoli) – for donating some really delicious bakery goods for the volunteers
  • Jimmy Johns (King of Prussia) – for stepping up last minute to donate sandwiches for the volunteers for the big sorting day (They were actually there helping to sort and could see we had no sandwiches for the volunteers so they went back to the store and got us some – a MAJOR wow!)
  • Panera Bread (Gateway) – for donating food for the volunteers to keep them nourished and full of energy on sorting day.
  • Hillside Elementary Daisy Scout Troop members – for sorting bags and bags of clothes.
  • The AMAZING school reps and clothing sorters:  Claudette McCarron and Nadia Gerard (BES), Christina Arnault (DES), Aimee Quinn (NEES), Kirsten McFarland (HES), Amanda Ivory (VFES), Bernie Logan, Lisa Buraks, Danyll Lockett, and Amanda Ivory (VFMS), Melissa Acton and Jodi DeFillipo (TEMS), Tori Hall and Jackie McGuckin (CHS).

Special thanks to the INCREDIBLE committee that put together this year’s event:
Lisa Davis – Chair                                                             Stacy Stone – Posters
Carol Tompkins – Volunteers                                           Karen Cruickshank – Street signs
Amanda Ivory – Group donation coordinator                     Jeanette Alwine – Church Layout
Karen Celebuski – Pod  / library coordinator                     Jennifer Arnott – Church Liaison
Jean Allen – clothing racks coordinator                               Jennifer Vastardis – Volunteer food coordinator

And EXTRA special thanks to the CHS students who coordinated this year’s Teen Pop-Up Shop.  This is no easy task when they are trying to gather donations, set up the room, get volunteers, and go to school – all at the same time.  A huge thanks to Pemmy Friedman and Fiona Kurtz.  They and their core of helpers are key to the success of this special shopping experience.

Photos from the 2018 Clothing Drive

  

 

Thanks to All for Supporting the Kids’ Clothing Event 2017
March 31 and April 1, 2017
St. Matthews United Methodist Church

Once again the community donations were AMAZING for this event. Over 680 bags filled with clothes were donated from families all over the community and almost 500 of them were filled and distributed at the event. That’s a LOT of families that received lots of “new” items. Shoes, coats, prom dresses, shirts, hats, pants and more. Over $6,400 was brought in as the result of this event, but more importantly we are happy to know that so many folks who needed clothes for their kids were able to find some.  All left over clothing goes to Cradles to Crayons another great non-profit that helps families in the greater Philadelphia area.  Nothing is wasted!
There are lots of people, groups and businesses to thank. Be sure to check out the pictures as well. Questions can be sent to clothes@tecare.org.
  • The biggest thanks of all – to St. Matthews United Methodist Church for 6 straight years, the most amazing host partner EVER!
  • Easttown and Tredyffrin Libraries for agreeing to host two of our public drop off sites.
  • All the TESD schools for being the main drop-off sites for all school families.
  • Abby Schwartz Associates for printing our flyers.
  • Paoli Hardware for donating the large trash bags needed for clean-up.
  • American Solutions for Business for printing our street signs at a reduced price.
  • Girl Scout Troop #41552 for making posters to hang at VFES advertising the event.
  • Bryce Mostoller, local student, for running a clothing drive in her neighborhood to collect needed items.
  • The CHS girls field hockey team for sorting all the donations dropped off at the Tredyffrin Library. Almost 100 large white trash bags full, these girls were VERY busy.
  • The CHS girls lacrosse team for sorting all the donations dropped off at the Easttown Library. Another 100 or so large white trash bags full, these girls were also VERY busy.
  • Berwyn United Methodist Church for loaning us a big room for sorting all the Easttown Library donations.
  • Evolve for loaning us space to sort all the Tredyffrin Library donations (and to Jean Allen for setting this all up).
  • Declan Arnott for sharing his spring break time to help with the clothing drive. His muscles were much appreciated and for helping coordinate collections at Woodlyne School. He deserves a big pat on the back.
  • The local boys rugby teams for cleaning up on Saturday. We were done in record time thanks to their amazing help. We had players from U13, U15 and CHS boys.
  • Wegmans (King of Prussia), Trader Joes (Gateway), and Jimmy Johns (King of Prussia) for donating food for the volunteers to enjoy during the long hours of sorting.
  • The Saturday Club and to TEMPO for loaning us their clothing racks again this year; they are VERY helpful to have!
  • Wayne Sporting Goods (Wayne) for donating some new clothing items to the sale.
  • Valley Forge Running Company (Berwyn) for donating new shoes to the sale.
  • Marilyn Slotter, Kelly Campbell, Camille Bell, and Robin Sheard, amazing church members, for serving wonderful treats to the shoppers.
  • Matthew Nirmaier and Sara Gieske for being important assistants to Grace in the Teen Girls Pop-up Shop.
  • The local private collection sites included: Wallace and Nilan Physical Therapy (Malvern), Wayne United Methodist Church (Lane Montessori), Trinity Preschool, The Malvern School, Berwyn United Methodist Church, Mom’s Club, The Church of Latter-day Saints (Broomall), Tarleton, Johnson Matthey, Montessori’s Children’s House, and Charleston, Kelly & Associates.
Special thanks to EVERYONE who donated clothes, encouraged others to donate clothes, sorted clothes, or helped in any other way. We appreciate everyone who made this such a success!
A huge shout out to the school reps for coordinated the sorting for all the donations at the schools: Claudette McCarron (BES), Amanda Wollick (DES), Kirsten McFarland (HES), Sharon Hardy (NEES), Amanda Ivory (VFES), Bernie Logan and Lisa Buraks (VFMS), Melissa Acton, Jodi DePhillipo, Jennifer Faris (TEMS), and Tori Hall (CHS).  They were busy folks, to say the least.
AND last but NEVER least – thanks to the AMAZING committee that put this event together:
  • Lisa Davis – Chair extraordinaire
  • Jeanette Alwine – set up coordinator
  • Amanda Ivory – collections coordinator
  • Carol Tompkins – volunteer coordinator
  • Stacey Stone and Karen Cruickshank – flyers and signs coordinators
  • Jennifer Arnott – church liaison
  • Jennifer Vastardis – volunteer needs coordinator
  • Grace Gillespie – Teen Pop-up Shot coordinator

 

MANY MANY THANKS TO ALL FOR HELPING TO MAKE THE
2016 GRAB BAG A HUGE SUCCESS!!

Thanks to all those individuals, businesses, organizations, schools, or groups who supported our 5th annual Grab Bag!  The list of folks who supported us is way to long to include everyone – but please know that if you aren’t listed here – we still appreciate everything you did!!!
Of top importance is a huge thanks again to St. Matthews Methodist Church for allowing us to use their space for this event.  We literally take over the church for 4 days – the huge meeting room is our main drive, we grew enough that we added the entrance lobby area a few years ago, and the last 2 years we added the teen meeting room for the Pop-Up Shop.  It’s truly the perfect site and location. Thank you – thank you – thank you!!!
Thanks to our business and group donors:
  • Abby Schwartz Associates – for printing our posters!
  • Paoli Hardware – for donating the large trash bags needed for clean-up
  • Whole Foods – for donating food for the volunteers on sorting day
  • Wegmans – for donating food for the volunteers on sorting day
  • Wayne Sporting Goods – for donating new clothing to the drive
  • Valley Forge Running Co. – for donating shoes to the drive
  • The Saturday Club and TEMPO – for loaning us their clothing racks
  • The Easttown and the Tredyffrin Libraries, and all the TESD schools – for being collection hosts extraordinaire!
  • Evolve – for allowing the field hockey team to do the sorting there – it took a huge space!
Thanks to the amazing committee who organized the Grab Bag!
  • Lisa Davis – Chair
  • Carol Tompkins – Volunteer coordinator
  • Amanda Ivory – Collections coordinator
  • Jeanette Alwine – Event set-up coordinator
  • Jennifer Arnott – Church Liaison
  • Jennifer Vastardis – Business donation coordinator
  • Stacy Stone – Posters/Signs coordinator
  • Maddy Pracher – Pop-Up Shop Coordinator

Thanks to the school collection reps – they collected and sorted all the donations that came into the schools:

  • BES – Leah LeComte and Autumn O’Reilly
  • DES – Barbara Schiff and the Jr. Girl Scout Troop #4425 Devon
  • NEES:  Lisa Buraks
  • HES:  Bernie Logan, Kirsten MacFarland
  • VFES:  Amanda Ivory
  • VFMS:  Karen Ridder, Rita Gosnear
  • TEMS:  Melissa Acton, Ger O’Leary, Jen Faris
  • CHS:  Tori Hall
Thanks to all the special volunteers who went above and beyond in their efforts to help:
  • The Library reps who collected and sorted the hundreds of bags of clothes donated there:
    • Tredyffrin:  Lisa Murphy (collections), CHS Girls Field Hockey Team and Jean Allen (sorting)
    • Easttown:  Tracey King (collections), CHS Girls Lacrosse Team and Allison Hayden and Jeanne Dechairio (sorting)
  • Private collection sites:
    • Paoli Hospital – Lisa Nevins
    • Montessori Children’s House – Story Picard
    • Wayne United Methodist Church – Story Picard
    • Trinity Preschool – Leah LeComte and Suzi Alrutz
    • The Malvern School – Carol Tompkins
    • Berwyn United Methodist Church – Amanda Wollick
    • Local Mom’s Club – Laura Mills
    • Plato’s Closet – Nancy Bevan, Jeanette Duffy
    • LDS Church – Tammy Small
    • The Law Office of Lisa Charleston – Lisa Charleston
    • Tarleton – Caroline Sturm, Hadley Witcher
    • Johnson Matthey – Donna Johnson
    • Show and Tell School – Vanessa Norris
    • Wallace & Nilan Physical Therapy – Ross Nilan and Stephanie Avallone
  • General volunteers:
    • CHS Girls Rugby Team – helped with transfer of donations to church
    • CHS Key Club – helped with a lot of sorting clothes and clean up
    • Marilyn Slotter and Gail Stohler – 2 really nice church ladies who set up a table for juice and cookies for the kids of any shoppers.

2015 KIDS’ CLOTHING GRAB BAG – Another HUGE success!

The 2015 Kids’ Clothing Grab Bag is over for 2015.  What a magical experience this is!  All the donations – wow!!!  And all the volunteers – another WOW!!  SPECIAL thanks to the chairs Lisa Davis, Jennifer Arnott, Carol Tompkins, Jeanette Alwine, and Pam Emel – we couldn’t have pulled it off without them!  And a VERY special thanks to St. Matthews United Methodist Church, led by Pastor Lillian Smith.  Once again they couldn’t have been more gracious hosts for a very busy event!  A huge shout out as well to CHS Junior Maddy Prachar who conceived of the idea of a Teen Girls room, worked out all the details, did all the set up, and pulled it off with expertise.  She is an amazing young lady!  (Thanks to her mom, Kristen, as well – we know she was a big help as well!!)
In case you wondered what happens to any left-over clothes that we didn’t “sell” – we work with Cradles to Crayons and give the clothes to them.  They have been VERY appreciative of the good quality clothes that are our “left overs”!  Rest assured that they definitely go to another good cause!
Anyone with questions should contact us at clothes@tecare.org.
We REALLY appreciate the support of…..
  • Whole Foods Devon – for providing sandwiches on the 2 set-up days – our volunteers are thrilled!
  • Starbucks (Wayne) – for providing bagels for morning nurtition for our volunteers
  • Paoli Hardware – for providing big trashbags to use for left overs
  • Wayne Sporting Goods (Wayne) – for donating some great clothing for the event
  • Platos Closet (Paoli) – for providing some great clothes for the event
  • The Valley Forge Running Company (Berwyn) – for donating some great shoes for the event
  • The Saturday Club and TEMPO for loaning us their clothing racks!  We REALLY need them to help display the clothes!
  • Brian Pierce for creating the fantastic posters that (hopefully) everyone saw around town prior to the event!
  • All the TESD schools – we couldn’t have run the event without your support!  Thanks to the building principals and the school chairs:  Amanda Ivory (VFES), Jamie Mushlin (BES), Barbara Schiff and Kim Brightman (DES), Lisa Buraks (NEES), Pam Emel and Bernie Logan (HES), Karen Ridder and Rita Gosnear (VFMS), Melissa Acton, Ger O’Leary,  and Jen Faris (TEMS), Tori Hall (CHS).
  • Thanks to the other public collection hosts and sorters.  These sites are so wonderful to allow all these donations taking up space for over a week!  Marci Romberger at Play It Again Sports (Berwyn), Robin Stuntebeck at Doctors Best Immediate Care (Berwyn), Pam Emel at Club La Maison (Wayne) and Lisa Murphy at the Tredyffrin Library (Wayne).
  • The CHS Field Hockey Team, lead by Jean Allen – this group of girls sorted over SEVEN carloads of clothing for us.  And these cars were packed FULL!  It was an amazing gesture of support!
  • There were many private groups also doing collections!  We are extremely thankful for the help of these sites and their sorters:  Paoli Hospital (Brad Zerr/Lisa Nevins), Montessori Children’s House and Wayne United Methodist Church (Story Picard), Trinity Preschool (Suzi Alrutz), Berwyn United Methodist Preschool (Maura Harley), Mom’s Club (Laura Mills), Plato’s Closet (Nancy Bevan), LDS Church (Tammy Small), Tarleton (Hadley Witcher and Caroline Sturm), Vertex (Laura Bruce), Johnson Matthey (Donna Johnson), Famous Footwear (Lisa Davis) and the Law Office of Lisa Charleston (Lisa Charleston).  Special thanks also to any groups who held a collection and we missed naming you!  And thanks again to EVERYONE who cleaned out a closet or a dresser in order to support the event!  The results again were staggering!
  •  There were MANY MANY volunteers who came to sorting day or worked at the event or hung/collected signs or picked up the special food treats, or ……(more and more).  We can’t name them all – but will give a shout out to the Main Line Rotary for sending volunteers and to many district students, particularly from the CHS Key Club.  The students were HUGE helps – especially when it came to all the heavy lifting needs!
THANKS THANKS THANKS TO ALL!!!!

KIDS’ CLOTHING GRAB BAG 2014

The Grab Bag is over and we are happy to report that LOTS of folks were able to get some great great clothing for their kids as the result of the wonderful clothing donations made by so many local families.  We know from our total revenue (over $3400, up from $2500 last year) that we had some nice cash donations in the mix.  But we also know that there were families who had tears of thanks at the thought that they didn’t have to pay for the big bags of clothing that they took from the event.  This year’s event will took place on March 28 and 29.   Any questions can be sent to clothes@tecare.org.

MANY MANY MANY thanks to so many folks who helped with this event.  The biggest shout out is to St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church of Valley Forge, and Pastor Dawn Taylor-Storm, who so willingly allowed us to again come in and take over the church!  What a busy place that was.  Besides our totally filling the main lobby and large congregation room in the lower level, there were choir practices happening, scout troops meeting, tours being given, preschool classes being held, and of course, church business going on!  We never heard one complaint that we were “in the way” – even though we knew we were!  And special thanks to the church “ladies” who offered cookies and treats to the shoppers on Friday!  What a nice touch that was!

Special thanks also to the amazing chairs of this event:  Lisa Davis, Carol Tompkins, Jeanette Alwine, Jennifer Arnott, and Pam Emel.  They did a terrific job organizing the volunteers, coordinating all the collection sites, designing the layout for the church, coordinating details with the church, and overseeing the whole event.  They may not want to see a pair of jeans for a while now that it’s over, but their efforts were amazing!

Between the collection locations and sorters, the school reps that did PR for us, the folks who hung posters around town, the volunteers who took the left overs to Cradles 2 Crayons, and all the volunteers who helped out one of the 4 days of the events – we had well over 220 different volunteers!!!  It was truly a community effort.  The list below gives the main businesses and groups that helped out in one way or the other.  Please say thanks!

  • All eight of the TESD schools – for being public collection locations.  We definitely could NOT have held this event without their help!  And special thanks to the volunteers who coordinated those sites:  Rachel Dunleavy, Jen Hofmann and Jamie Mushlin (BES), Lori Piccone and Kim Brightman (DES), Kristina Haines (NEES), Pam Emel (HES), Jennifer Arnott and Amanda Ivory (VFES), Karen Ridder, Bernie Logan and Rita Gosner (VFMS), Melissa Acton, Sue Butler, Geraldine O’Leary and Gina DeFlavia (TEMS), and Emer Ryle and Tori Hall (CHS).  AMAZING folks!
  • Doctor’s Best Immediate Care (Berwyn) and Play It Again Sports (Berwyn) – for being a public collection locations – the last THREE years!  And special thanks to the CHS Girls Field Hockey Team and Leanne Rush for doing the sorting for both sites!
  • Club La Maison (Wayne)  – for joining our list of public collection locations this year!  Thanks to Nancy Bevan and Pam Emel for helping to sort donations at this site.
  • Paoli Hospital – for hosting a private collection for us – again for the last THREE years! Special thanks to Brad Zerr and Lisa Nevins for helping with this site!
  • Vertex, Berwyn United Methodist Church, LDS Church, Mom’s Club, Montesori Children’s House, Plato’s Closet, Tarleton Nursery School, The Malvern School, Trinity Preschool, and Wayne United Methodist Preschool (Lane Montessori) for hosting private collection locations for us!  Having all these extra sites REALLY helped!
  • Paoli Hardware Store – for two large boxes of trash bags, used to transport the clothing.
  • Whole Foods (Devon) – for agreeing to offer YUMMY sandwiches and bagels to the volunteers on sorting day and on sale days.
  • Starbucks (Wayne) – for offering delicious bagels and coffee for the volunteers working at the event.
  • Brian Pierce – for designing the great posters that help us get word out about the event.
  • Upper Main Line Rotary – for sending a number of volunteers to help us sort and run the event
  • Brinker Capital (Berwyn) – for sending a number of volunteers to help us sort and run the event, as well as collecting clothes!
  • The Law Office of Lisa Charleston (Wayne) – for sending a number of volunteers to help us sort clothes, as well as for being a collection site
  • CHS field hockey team, NHS and Key Club members, T&E Kids Care Club members, and other students from CHS, Hillside ES, Valley Forge ES, Valley Forge MS, and T/E MS – for helping with the collecting and sorting before the event, and working at the event.

T&E Care Kids’ Clothing Grab Bag 2013

The 2nd annual spring 2013 Grab Bag was held April 12 and 13 at St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church of Valley Forge on Walker Rd.  What a great success this was.  We had so many wonderful donations of clothes, and at the other end we had LOTS of people “shopping” and getting great clothing at no or low cost.   Thanks to ALL those involved in making the 2013 Grab Bag such a big success…..

  • Jeanette Alwine, Lynn Greco, Laura Pratt, and Jennifer Arnott – the fabulous co-chairs of the event!!  We can’t say thanks enough for all their efforts!
  • The folks at St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church of Valley Forge and Pastor Dawn Taylor-Storm – what a fantastic partnership!  Even the ladies of the church made cookies and offered goodies for the shoppers and volunteers!  Oh my!
  • Panera (Gateway), Starbucks (Wayne), and Pizza Land (Chesterbrook) for donating baked goods, drinks, and pizzas for all the volunteers during the sorting time – they were really delicious and kept us focused on our task!
  • Giant Foods (Frazier) and Paoli Hardware (Paoli) for donating bags used in distributing the items as well as bagging up the extras.
  • Various CHS groups for lending a hand, including members of the Key Club, National Honors Society, the Girls Softball Team, the Girls Field Hockey Team, and the T&E Kids Care Club.
  • Doctor’s Best Immediate Medical Care (Berwyn), Play It Again Sports (Berwyn), and all the TESD schools for being official collection sites for the event.  Having many bags of clothing in the lobbies and hallways can’t be easy!
  • Paoli Hospital, Montessorti Children’s House at VF, Johnson Matthey (Devon), Central Baptist Church and Nursery School (Wayne), St. Luke Lutheran Church (Devon), the Baptist Church in the Great Valley (Devon), DeLage Landen Financial Services (Wayne), and the TESD Administration Offices were all private collection sites.  These extra clothes REALLY make a difference in our collections.  Thanks to all sooooo much!
  • TEMPO and The Saturday Club for loaning us their clothing racks – what a HUGE difference that made in laying out the space.
  • Thanks to Devereux for “loaning” us a few of their residents to help with the sorting of the clothes – they did a GREAT job!
  • To those who delivered flyers around town and hung signs:  Kate Bishopp, Margie Winters, Sarah Magrino, Andrea Ross, Connie Layman, Sandi Gorman, and Jennifer and Stephanie Horan
  • To brownie troops #41242 (3rd grade at BES) and #42062 (HES) for making posters for their schools, and to the 1st graders at HES (thanks Libby Pechin for organizing) for making even more signs for HES!
  • All those collection site chairs at each school and private site who had to sort through the many many bags of clothes delivered to each site, and get them to the church for further sorting!  Rachel Dunleavy and Jen Hoffman (BES), Kim Brightman and Heather Hill and Beth Breault (DES), Jenn Fuscaldo and Tracy Sidoriak (NEES), Pam Emel and Jane Balsan (HES), Jen Arnott (VFES), Rita Gosnear and Bernie Logan and Karen Ridder (VFMS), Melissa Acton and Teri Santivasci (TEMS), Jackie McGuckin and Tori Hall and many students (CHS), Jenny Gragilla (Doctor’s Best), Marcie Romberger and the CHS field hockey team (Play It Again Sports), Brad Zerr and Lisa Nevins (Paoli Hospital), Story Picard (Montessori Children’s House and Central Nursery School), Donna Johnson (Johnson Matthey), JoAnne Hilly (TESD Administration Offices).

And of course – a HUGE thanks to all who donated clothing and volunteered to sort clothing at the event.  A true team effort!

First Annual T&E Care Grab Bag – a big success!

On Saturday April 21, 2012 T&E Care held it’s first annual Kids’ Clothing Grab Bag.  In all accounts we believe it was a big success and a good service to the community.  The quality and quantity of the donations was unsurpassed!  Tables and tables of great kids clothing were available for a donation of $5/bag  – and the bags were huge.  (And over $1600 was raised – so we had a lot of good shoppers!) People who came to “shop” were overwhelmed with the selection and repeatedly commented on how nice the clothes were.  We have already received some emails of thanks for running the event – such as:

  • I just wanted to let you know that the Kids Clothing Grab Bag was wonderful.  I was able to get some nice things for my daughter.  I also wanted to tell you that I went to another clothing exchange on Saturday before I came to this one and it was no where near the quality of TECares.  Everyone at TECares was very helpful, the clothes were organized by sizes and in neatly folded piles and the clothes were in very good condition.  I was very happy that I made it to the event and wanted to say thank to all that help put this event together.  I am very happy to be apart of a community that cares and does so much for everyone.  I hope with this being the 1st Kids Clothing Grab Bag that it continues in the future years.  Great Job and Thank you to everyone.
  • I wanted to thank you so much for holding your Kid’s Clothing Grab Bag this past Saturday.  We are on a tight budget and I was able to find wonderful clothes for all my children at your event.  I went with my sister and friend who were both able to get great finds for their kids as well.  Thanks again and looking forward to hopefully another Grab Bag next spring!
  • Thank you so much for all of the clothes my family received from the clothing drive.  It was a tremendous help to us.  I am so grateful for all that you and TE cares does for the community.

Many thanks again to St. Matthew’s Methodist Church for hosting the event, and also for surprising us with a welcome table of coffee, juice, and muffins for volunteers and shoppers.  What a wonderful gesture!  They truly bent over backwards for us – we couldn’t have asked for a better location.  Special recognition again to our drop-off locations:  All the TESD schools, Doctor’s Best (Berwyn), Penn Liberty Bank (Wayne), Play It Again Sports (Berwyn), Center on Central (Paoli), Wayne Presbyterian Church, Paoli Hospital, Johnson Matthey, Plato’s Closet, St. Luke Church, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, The Baptist Church of the Great Valley, and of course St. Matthew’s Church.  To all those who cleaned out their closets – you did a GREAT job finding us wonderful clothing.  MANY THANKS!  We also appreciated donations of the plastic bags from Wegmans, Acme, Paoli Hardware, Giant, and Walmart, and some of the coat hangers from Organic Clean Natural Cleaners (Devon).

Again we appreciate all those who helped volunteer during the collections or set up, at the event itself, by creating and/or hanging posters, and dropping off the left-overs at other charities.  We especially appreciate the help by so many of the families that we have supported in the past – many volunteered for this event – it was a great way for them to give back!  A really tremendous job done by all.  Special thanks also to our chairs:  Jeanette Alwine, Lynn Greco, Laura Pratt, and Karin Maynard.  It’s always risky to tackle a new project, but they thought it through well and figured out all the possible glitches.

    

    

The mission of T&E Care is to maintain a network of people providing short-term financial and other material assistance to persons in need who live in and around the Tredyffrin and Easttown township areas.

 

 

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T&E Care is an IRS recognized non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.   The official registration and financial information of Tredyffrin & Easttown Care may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1 (800) 732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

 

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