Nonprofit gives away clothes and helps financially
Published in the July 22 – Aug. 4, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo courtesy St. Vincent de Paul
Participants “shop” in the back-to-school clothing give-away for children last year.
Nine years ago, Debbie Molyneux felt she was given a calling to help Morgan Hill’s St. Catherine Church’s “conference” of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Since then, she has found an active faith through her involvement with other volunteers. The nonprofit group provides local people in need with clothing as well as financial help for rent, utility bills and gasoline.
“I was scared to start it at the beginning,” she said. “But I’ve made many friends who have shared their lives with me and I’ve grown in my faith. I’ve always been one of those people who steps back and lets other people do things. But finally I got the guts and I had the right lever to get me started. It was great and, hopefully, it will grow forever and I’ll keep doing it forever.”
Molyneux and other St. Vincent de Paul volunteers will set up the annual back-to-school clothing free give-away for local children at the Clothing Closet, 13570 Depot St., San Martin, Saturday Aug. 1. Usually between 250 and 300 children come for new and gently-used clothes as well as brand-new socks, underwear and pajamas, but a few years ago about 400 children arrived. Every child or teenager is led through the hall by a volunteer “personal shopper” in selecting pants and shirts off clothes racks and tables that will allow them to go to their classrooms in a style much like their fellow students who can afford good clothes.
“We give away new and used clothes because we want these kids to feel special when they go back to school,” Molyneux said. “It’s important for kids to feel the same way as other kids, even though they know they can’t really afford (clothes). Our goal is always to make kids feel special.”
Families do not need to register or provide identification to receive the clothes, but young people are required to be there because the volunteers want this to be a fun “shopping” experience for them, said Carol Lillig, president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Catherine’s Church.
“We keep the nicest things of what we’ve been given (by donors) and so they’re pretty good quality, and we get (money) donations from parishioners to buy new socks and underwear and pajamas and backpacks,” she said. “The kids really get a chance to have that shopping experience instead of getting a bag of hand-me-downs and being told this is what you have to wear for school this year. It’s a wonderful day for the kids.”
“We get a good number of volunteers who help out every year and they get just as good a feeling out of it as I do — just watching the kids,” Molyneux said. “We set it up as a store so that the kids go around and pick out their own things. The volunteer helps them and guides them as to what they want, and they can pick it out for themselves just like they’re in a regular store and buying it for themselves, although they get it for nothing.”
Besides clothing, the give-away also provides children with books, toys and shoes, she said.
Vincent de Paul was a priest of the Catholic Church who lived in France from 1581 to 1660 and dedicated himself to serving the poor. He was canonized in 1737 for his compassion, humility and generosity and is known as the “Great Apostle of Charity.” The priest’s work continued on with the establishment in 1833 of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help impoverished people living in the slums of Paris. The main person behind the society’s founding was Frédéric Ozanam, a French lawyer, author and professor in the Sorbonne University. The society’s first conference in the United States was established in 1845 in St. Louis, Missouri. The society today numbers about 800,000 members in 140 countries. A conference may be based out of a church, community center, school, or hospital and non-Catholics can join.
Besides the annual back-to-school event and an adult clothing give-away started in January, St. Vincent de Paul Society keeps a building in San Martin to provide free clothes as well as household items for people in need. It also helps those less fortunate with rental and utility bill assistance. Those seeking help must contact St. Vincent de Paul’s call line at (408) 778-2928 to reach a recorder where they leave their name, telephone number and type of assistance they are in need of. A St. Vincent de Paul volunteer will return the call, usually within 24 hours.
Since she got involved with the society, Molyneux has seen the group grow to provide a “safety net” for the people in Morgan Hill, San Martin and the Coyote Valley who need assistance. The group also gives “career clothes” to the Cecelia’s Closet non-profit organization to help people who need good-quality attire to find a job or work at a job.
“It’s gotten much bigger since we started it many years ago. It’s really been a thriving program,” she said. “The people need it. I deal with these people almost on a daily basis. I get phone calls all the time. I think that God gave me this calling or something because I absolutely love dealing with people and giving them the clothes.”
Since she became involved with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Lillig has come to see how even in Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest regions in the world, there are people in poverty who require assistance to make their homes here. About 18 percent of the region’s population lives at a poverty level, according to the Stanford University Center on Poverty and Inequality.
“Some days it’s people needing help paying the water bill or the utility bill,” she said. “Sometimes they need food or gas. Sometimes they need rent, that’s a very common one. Mostly they’re working families or people who are on a fixed income and they have an unexpected expense such as a car expense or funeral expense or healthcare bill. They live close to the edge and can’t handle a big bill.”
What the volunteers see themselves as is a way for people who are financially struggling to maintain some kind of quality of life, she said.
“I didn’t realize how many people live in their cars in town. It’s shocking,” Lillig said. “They’re working but they can’t pay the first and last month of their rent. So I think it’s good that we’re here. We’re making life easier for people than it would be otherwise.”
For volunteers like Molyneux and Lillig, being involved with St. Vincent de Paul enhances their personal faith and helps them see the humanity in all people regardless of their income level.
“For me personally what this ministry has done is kind of blurred that line between us and them,” Lillig said. “I really just see everyone I meet now as a brother or sister. They’re just another person on Earth trying to do the best they can. And those of us who have more and can help them, we can be there to serve them.”
