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Community Corner

Church Clothing Giveaway A Hit with Centreville Residents

Around 100 volunteers pitched in on Friday to help out at the popular neighborhood event.

Local residents lined up more than two hours early Saturday morning for free clothes at a giveaway sponsored by the .

“This was real special for me, a real blessing,” said Amina Bangura, a single mom from Centreville, who was dragging out bags of clothes from the giveaway. “This helps me a lot because we can’t afford everything right now.”

The church has been collecting clothing donations from the community for the past month and had amassed a roomful of stuff, said Bill Hatcher, church outreach pastor. About 100 church volunteers worked for a couple hours Friday night sorting and folding the clothing for the event, which has proved popular over the years. It is part of the church's Operation Serve, a project that promotes good works in the community, including a cleanup and gardening at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park on Saturday. 

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Families were waiting in line at the church’s door at 6 a.m. when Hatcher arrived, he said. The event started at 8:30 a.m. Each person got a white trash bag which they were allowed to fill with items. After they finished filling the bag, they could take it out to the car and come back for another empty bag. Organizers were trying to distribute all of the clothes they had collected to those who needed them most.

The giveaway drew more than 200 people; most of the clothes had disappeared in the first few minutes. In fact, one table stacked high with boy’s shirt, pants and underwear, was cleaned off in the first five minutes after the doors opened.

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“The turnout was great and this is a great way for us to show our support for the community,” Hatcher said. “It gives us a way to show that we love our community and want to serve.”

In addition to the clothing giveaway, the church had about 200 church members doing volunteer work on Saturday at about a dozen Operation Serve projects. These ranged from landscaping and mulching at four public schools to helping seniors with their spring cleaning, Hatcher said.

The timing of the event couldn’t have been better for Pedro Ramos, of Chantilly, who has been laid off his restaurant job with a broken foot. “This has been a great help for me and my family and it comes at a good time,” said Ramos, who scored an immaculate gray men’s suit at the giveaway.

The church usually does the event twice a year and it’s open to the entire community. People don’t have to be a church member to participate, Hatcher said. The fall event will be held sometime in mid-October, he said.

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