Volunteering at the Sharing Shelf - A Rye Y Togetherhood Project

Volunteering at The Sharing Shelf A Togetherhood Project Togetherhood is YMCA's Signature Program for Social Responsibility. This program invites Y members to lead and participate in volunteer service projects that benefit the communities where they live.

By Hannah Blake

The Sharing Shelf is a non-profit group that collects gently used children’s clothing.

These clothes are sorted and packaged for individual children that are in need. The Sharing Shelf is remarkable and is making a difference in so many lives!

Over 20 people joined together on this day to help children in need. The group was directed by Deborah Blatt, Program Coordinator, who was responsible for starting The Sharing Shelf.

The clothing was checked for its quality, checked for its size, then folded nicely.

Then the clothing was put into a designated bin based on size, gender, and the type of clothing. By the end of the day, many of the bins were completely filled.

Other volunteers then took the containers that had been completely filled and organized them for the shelves, so that Deb and her co-workers could easily find the clothes that will be packaged for an individual child.

Each package created for a child contains a week’s worth of clothing. Clothing packages depend on the season and the circumstances of a child. The day we volunteered there was a family that lost everything to a house fire and the children desperately needed clothes.

Abi Repetto, a RHS student, said that she wanted to volunteer because she knew how many families were devastated by poverty and that she hoped to make a difference. She said that she was lucky enough to have a roof over her head and felt good helping others.

Michelle Traynor (purple shirt to the right) said that this was a great chance for her and her son to give back to others. She thought that this was a very important project and enjoyed that it brought everyone together making our community stronger.

No matter what, there is always room for smiles and giggles!

Thank you to The Sharing Shelf for letting Togetherhood participate!

Thank you Patty Mosher and Edison Blanco for organizing this project and thank you Denise Woodin for your guidance!

A massive thank you to Deborah Blatt for directing all of the volunteers.

She taught us all to be good folders and allowed for us to be better people too.

Thank you to all the volunteers that helped out!