BROOKINGS – The Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter is encouraging everyone to clean out their closets during its “SPARK JOY Gently Used Clothing Drive” fundraiser.  

The shelter is partnering with a variety of Brookings businesses and organizations to collect the following items:

• Clothing (all sizes for women, men and children)

• Shoes and boots (all sizes for women, men, and children)

• Accessories (hats, belts, jewelry, purses, bags, backpacks)

• Bed and bath linens (sheets, towels, blankets, quilts, comforters)

All items should be packed in large black 30-33 gallon garbage bags and dropped off in the mobile container located at the east side of Peace Lutheran Church’s parking lot on 22nd Avenue South, just behind Zestos or at any of the shelter’s collection partner sites:

• The UPS Store 5064

• Prairie Skies Family Dentistry

• Brookings Chiropractic Center

• Advance

• Health through Massage (in White)

• Brookings Area United Way

• Brookings Auto Mall

• Brookings County Commission Office, 520 Third St., Suite 210

• Year Round Brown

• CrossFit Brookings

• Tee’d Off Golf Simulators

“We are very excited to be hosting this drive and give the community a convenient option to help the cause,” Trish Matson Buus, fundraising coordinator, said. “It costs people nothing to participate, it helps a great cause, and we all need to clean out our closets anyway, right?”

One mobile container has already been filled and transported to Savers in Sioux Falls last Friday.

“The total weight of that part of our clothing drive collection was almost 5,200 pounds, which will translate to over $1,000 for the Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter,” Matson Buus reported Friday.

“Terri Thomas, the Savers representative who sets up these fundraisers for nonprofit organizations all over the country, said that she has groups that do these drives four times a year without collecting as much as we delivered today. With everyone’s help, we hope that we’ll be able to fill the second mobile container in the next (eight) days.”

The collection continues through March 26.

Funds generated from this drive will directly benefit the shelter’s programs and services. “The additional advantage of diverting these items from the landfill makes it a win-win for everyone,” Matson Buus added.

According to data from the EPA, more than 12 million tons of textiles are trashed annually. On an individual level, the average American throws away 68 pounds of clothing per year.

Anyone with other items to donate that aren’t listed above, call the shelter at 692-SAFE (7233) to see if it is currently accepting those items for other needs.