MCLE-inspired ministry offers clothing at no cost
Imagine a neglected junk-filled barn converted into a clothing ministry that, in less than five months, has served more than 300 individuals in three states and 19 towns—some, more than an hour away. That’s just what resulted when lay pastor Bonnie Moretto urged Lamoine (Maine) Baptist Church to pursue the American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS)-sponsored Missional Church Learning Experience (MCLE).
Moretto was excited when the Rev. Glynis LaBarre, ABHMS transformation strategist, asked Maine churches to aid their surrounding communities by participating in MCLE. Moretto organized an MCLE team, which offered a free supper to residents of the rural town. The only “payment” required of each diner was to complete a form, indicating the community’s greatest needs. Later, at a church planting seminar, the idea of providing clothing was raised. Revamped with items salvaged from Moretto’s defunct mobile home-turned-tack shop, the church’s barn opened as the Clothes Closet on July 30, 2011.
Open from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and by appointment, the Clothes Closet offers attire at no cost to individuals of all ages from anywhere.
“There are lots of food pantries, food stamps, things to help with heating, but nothing out there to help with clothes,” Moretto says. “Clothing is expensive. I’ve heard people say, ‘We just went to Goodwill, spent $30 and got nothing.’ ”
In addition to apparel, the ministry provides other free items for infants and seniors, such as high chairs, cribs, playpens, strollers, walkers and canes.
Moretto, who searches Facebook daily for sale items that the Clothes Closet is lacking at a given time, says she can speak for hours about the ways in which God has provided to the ministry.
She recalls, for example, the manner in which baby items first became available at the Clothes Closet. Too tired to stop at the multiple yard sales she passed upon returning from an American Baptist Women’s conference, Moretto dodged down a side street, stumbling upon a large rack of brand-new baby clothes for sale by a children’s clothier. Moretto couldn’t resist the $1-per-item offer, so she wrote a check for $140—the full amount available in her account.
At one point, the ministry possessed only a small selection of teen fashions, and Moretto had been desperately looking and praying. A mother dropped by the barn to donate five bags of teen garb, for which her college-age triplets—all girls—no longer had use. A few minutes later, Moretto says, another woman came by, seeking teen clothing for her own triplet girls.
“That’s God—that’s how he works,” marvels Moretto. “When we need something, it shows up.”
And, as winter approaches, Moretto knows that God will continue to provide as she works with the church’s trustees and solicits local businesses for donations of materials and labor to winterize the unheated barn. Currently, Moretto and a volunteer worker wear coats and long underwear while at the Clothes Closet, and $10 is paid monthly to access electricity via a neighbor’s outdoor outlet.
< < Back
|
