Community Closet

In November 2008, District 54 opened the Community Closet in the basement of Addams Junior High School in Schaumburg. The Closet collects gently used shoes and clothing from members of our community and provides them free of charge to the families of our students in need.  Our students cannot be expected to do their best in school until their basic needs are met.

Families are identified by the school social workers. The families are then given a voucher and allowed to visit the Closet up to two times a year (fall/winter and again in the spring/summer). If you need clothing or you know of a family in need, please contact the school social worker. Since opening, we have served more than 1,600 people.

The Community Closet uses no taxpayer dollars. All the people who work in the Closet are volunteers. All the clothes given away are donations. We have received so many quality donations that our families have been able to select as much as they needed.

How can I help?

You can participate in this important initiative in several ways:

• Share information about the Community Closet with your friends and family.
• Donate gently used, clean clothes, coats and shoes of all sizes (including pajamas, but excluding any type of undergarments);
• Donate new socks and underwear, or gift cards of money to purchase new socks and underwear.
• Volunteer to sort clothes or work on one of the days that the closet is open to families (one Saturday morning and two evenings each month during the school year). Please note that, we do not allow children from our community to work in the Closet to protect the identities of the families who are selecting the clothes.
• Host your own clothing drive at your school, church, etc. and donate the clothes to the Community Closet, already sorted by size, gender and season.

How can I donate clothes to the Community Closet?

You can drop off the clothes at any District 54 school or office. Please label the boxes “Community Closet—Addams Junior High School.”

For more information, contact Kathy Canary at (847) 357-5027.