DRIVING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

A pilot program on the North Shore offers donors a home pickup service to donate clothes for needy children and immigrants in Chicago.

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Call it amazon.com in reverse. It’s not about receiving; it’s about giving.

A new pilot program launched by the Chicago chapter of Cradles to Crayons, a national organizations whose mission is provide clothing to needy children and families, is designed to make donating clothes to charity easier.

The program utilizes a van—what it calls the Cradles to Crayons Cruiser—to pick up donations of new or gently used clothes and hygiene items at homes throughout the North Shore. Donors can book an appointment online, bag or box up their donations, pick a day for the Cruiser to come by, and not have to worry about finding and driving to a donation bin.

Riverwoods resident Amy Kaplan and her husband, Marty, helped spearhead the effort along with a group of 25 volunteers, aka the Cruiser Committee. They got the blessing of the national organization to launch the pilot to test whether it could be replicated in communities across the country. The idea emerged when the shelves of the organization’s Chicago warehouse, the Giving Factory, where donations are vetted and processed, began to thin.

“I’ve been involved with Cradles to Crayons for seven years and what I like is its pureness of mission. It’s heartbreaking that you have to level the playing field for children to meet their basic needs,” says Amy. “I stay involved because its very grassroots, hands-on volunteerism and as a board member my ideas are valued.”

It's difficult for parents with young kids to load up their donation bags and then drive to a donation site to drop them off, she adds. There’s also bad weather, and people tend to load their bags in the trunks of their cars and then drive for months before getting around to dropping them off.

“The writing was on the wall that we had to make this easy and efficient, and going door to door and letting people just drop their bags at their doors is the simplest way to solve the problem,” Amy says. “The goal is to maximize product collection.”

Front door collections are just one way the new Cruiser is being used. Through their networks, Amy and her fellow volunteers are also encouraging donors to organize community gatherings where people congregate and bring their donations. The Cruiser swings by and collects all of the bags. It’s a way to gather donations but also build community. Amy hopes the idea will encourage schools, churches, and synagogues to get involved. She’s also forming partnerships with retail outlets so they can donate unsold merchandise.

“We envision using the Cruiser if you want to become a Cruiser Collaborator and that gives more opportunity for wider community engagement,” she says. “A lot of individuals and local businesses have taken advantage of it, and it’s been a huge success. I was amazed by how much clothing local businesses have to give.”

One aspect of Cradles to Crayons that Amy really appreciates is the organization offers volunteer opportunities not just for adults, but for kids, too. She strongly believes in family volunteering, and her children were involved with Cradles to Crayons at a very young age, putting clothing packages together for needy children.

“We used to take my kids and their friends to volunteer at Giving Factory and they would say it was the favorite day of their lives,” she says. “I always felt good about the fact that families could volunteer and how much it resonated with them. It was very tangible and hands-on and seeing their reaction was so special.”

For the Cruiser project, Amy says what has been most satisfying is watching the community on the North Shore come together to get the Cruiser on the road. Its progress up to now is due to the involvement of all of the volunteers.

“As the tagline on the Cruiser says, we are literally ‘driving to make a difference’ to end clothing insecurity,” she adds. “I cannot stress enough how extraordinary the grass roots activism of our community to make this happen has been, and I am inspired by the community connectivity that has made, and will continue to make, this a success.”

To book a date for a clothing pickup from the Cradles to Crayons Cruiser or make a monetary donation, visit cradlestocrayons.org/ chicago/c2ccruiser/.