To volunteer with Lift Up Atlanta, go to www.liftupatlanta.org or e-mail liftupatlanta@yahoo.com
A small storage unit, which is filled with donated clothes, is a stepping stone for Rosalind Garner to open a clothing closet for needy families in the Norcross area. Until she secures a store-front, volunteers sorted and organized piles of donated clothes on Saturday, which will eventually become a part of the Lift Up Atlanta Clothing Closet.
Garner, founder of Lift Up Atlanta, hopes the closet becomes a place where needy families can find essential clothing for the seasons. “This is just the beginning of what we hope to do,” said Garner. “Eventually, hopefully through some partners and the community we hope to open a boutique-like store where people can shop, for free, for clothing and other items for their kids and other members of the family.”
Bags and bags of clothing were sorted, and while most of it will be ready for the clothing closet, Garner and Lift Up Atlanta’s many volunteers also distribute the clothing in Downtown Atlanta.
Robin Michaels- Solomon, of Alpharetta, volunteers every month with Lift Up Atlanta and has noticed the difference the small efforts are making around the city. “It is amazing to see how a small gesture like giving clothing to someone in need can brighten their day,” shared Michaels-Solomon. “The closet will be able to help families in need and really help make a difference in the local community.”
Lift Up Atlanta is 100 percent volunteer-based, and depends on the community to achieve its mission. For the clothing closet, “people can drop off clothing, and also can donate other essential items such as baby car seats, shoes, and really anything will be useful for the families that we serve,” added Garner, who works in customer care.
The clothing closet is just one of the many projects that Lift Up Atlanta engages in around the city. From serving hot meals at shelters to organizing and hosting job empowerment programs, Garner hopes that the organization is an agent of change for the many in need in Atlanta.
“I have been in those circumstances where it was really hard to make ends meet,” she reflected. “This is not a hand out, but just a way to pay it forward and let people know that they are going to be okay.”
Founded in September 2011, Lift Up Atlanta hopes to meet the basic needs of the homeless, including food, clothing, hygiene needs, educational services etc. It seeks to fill the gaps in the current provision of services to homeless women and children and to empower them to become self-sufficient again.
In other news: Warrick Dunn Charities' Homes for the Holidays, Atlanta-based Aaron's, Inc. and Atlanta Habitat for Humanity presented Kimberly Kindel and her three children with their first home on May 14 in South Atlanta. Homes for the Holidays assists single-parent families by setting them up for long-term stability and equipping them with everything from furniture and linens to new toothbrushes for everyone so the children can thrive educationally, socially and economically.
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