Waldoboro needs a few good clothes-sorters.
Back in February, we reported on the opening of the Lincoln County Neighbor to Neighbor Clothing Exchange in Waldoboro.
Southport residents Steve Baseman and Kit Sherrill started the Waldoboro exchange with help from Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett and donations from several local businesses.
The new location was an expansion of Baseman and Sherrill’s efforts on the island, and then on the Boothbay peninsula, to make secondhand clothes available free of charge to anyone in need.
But now Baseman and Sherrill have a problem: they have plenty of clothes to give away, but no one to run the Waldoboro location.
The exchange desperately needs volunteers.
The effort requires a volunteer coordinator and about four more volunteers to work a few hours a week each. The volunteers will sort clothing each week and hang it up. The exchange also needs someone to open and close the shed twice a week.
No one needs to man the shed while it’s open. In fact, the exchange insists that no one be present during those hours, so anyone who needs clothes can find what they need free of any awkwardness or stigma.
The original location was behind the municipal building, but the shed has since been moved to the Meenahga Grange on Main Street. The Grange also provides space for volunteers to sort donations.
The goal is to open the exchange from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. twice a week, including on the first and third Tuesdays of the month to coincide with the hours of the nearby Waldoboro Food Pantry.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office inmate work program picks up donations from drop-off points and delivers them to the shed, so volunteers only have to sort and hang. The exchange also draws donations from its other location in Boothbay Harbor.
The organizers of the exchange label clothes to determine how long each item has been available. After four weeks in the shed, items go to the Salvation Army.
Someone with a few hours to give could make a real difference in the lives of people in Waldoboro and the surrounding communities – and a real difference for the entire community by extension.
A free bag of clothes might seem like a small thing. But if it keeps a child warm in the winter or helps someone who’s down and out find a job, it’s a big thing.
“The task isn’t big, but the need is,” Baseman said.
To volunteer, call Sherrill at 633-0672.
