Carry Me Home

So much sorting!

One garment at a time

We are a 100% volunteer run, funded and organized group. Sorting is our biggest ongoing, neverending task.  Volunteers meet as needed to sort appropriate seasonal clothing by age/size and item. A well-organized system aids greatly in the ease of distribution for volunteers and refugees.

Volunteering with us

We welcome you to help us sort donations, organize the shop, and help customers during Free Shop hours! 

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• We work at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro

• All volunteers must be masked, COVID vaccinated if eligible, and complete a daily health screening form before volunteer sessions.

• Email us to join our volunteer mailing list.  You'll get all needed information and a link to our schedule so you can sign up for a time.
• We also need help translating our shop signage.  Please let us know if you have excellent Spanish, Dari, and/or Pashto and are able to help us (this can be done remotely via Google Docs).

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Where did all those clothes go?

What we have done so far

We have sent shipments to Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia; Chios, Polikastro, Idomeni, Lesvos, Samos, and Athens, Greece; and Calais, France. We closely coordinate with field volunteers on the ground who work tirelessly on assisting refugees ( a term we use loosely on this page to describe anyone fleeing conflict or an untenable situation in their home country, regardless of legal status).  These partners advise us as to current needs, and supervise the distribution of our goods to the people who need them most.  In our first four years of operation, we shipped over 12 tons (24,000 pounds or about 540 large shipping boxes) of presorted, packaged aid for refugees.

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Our newer initiatives

Since 2019, in addition to continuing international shipments, we have donated clothes regularly to asylum seekers, and starting in 2021, to refugees and others seeking safety in the US.  We are now working closely with CASP (Community Asylum Seekers Program), ECDC (Ethiopian Community Development Council), and community co-sponsorship groups in Southern Vermont to support the families they host and sponsor.  We have supplied 80 "Arrival Kits" of basics so far to the Afghans now arriving in Southern Vermont, and once they've landed, we have welcomed many of them to our Free Shop.

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Understanding our mission broadly

We donate clothing that doesn't meet (or exceeds) the needs of refugees, or is too heavy to ship affordably, to Brattleboro community members via the giveaway tables at Loaves and Fishes free lunches (in the same space as our warehouse), and occasionally by special request to Groundworks. 

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We have donated about 200 pounds of clothes not needed locally to partners who distribute them for free at Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation in South Dakota.

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If donated items are not appropriate for any of the above, we give anything in good usable condition to our local thrift shop, Experienced Goods.

Past Events

Prior to COVID, we hosted four annual Greek Supper fundraisers, in honor of the Greek people who have been the first to welcome so many people fleeing the Middle East by boat. 

We look forward to another community supper some day!

Fundraisers

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House Blend shared their beautiful a cappella voices with us for a lovely coffeehouse concert in the parlor at Centre Church.

Education

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We co-sponsored film screenings about refugees and the places they travel from and through.

How to Give

Give your time:

Our biggest need right now in Spring 2022 is for volunteers to help us sort our donations, and keep them organized as we welcome customers. 

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Make a monetary donation:

We use your monetary donations to purchase:

• Items our new neighbors need that we aren't able to get enough of by in-kind donations. For example, we have  purchased winter boots in smaller men's sizes, new underwear, and long underwear for all ages. We have also donated cash directly to our partner ECDC to defray their costs of purchasing needed clothing and footwear that weren't available from us. 

• When we set up our free shop, we purchased some shelving units to complement the ones we were able to obtain by donation.

• We ship clothes and footwear in excellent condition that are not needed locally to partners at the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation and to partners in Europe serving refugees and migrants there.  Your donations cover USPS costs and our packing supplies.