AmeriCorps members thank Dayton area residents for helping them help others

AmeriCorps clean Out Your Closet, Summer Edition is great success thanks to a caring community.
By: Philip Greene
 
June 21, 2010 - PRLog -- DAYTON, OH --  About 20 AmeriCorps volunteers gave up their Saturday on June 12 to make a difference to those in Dayton who are homeless or in need, and when it was all over, there were smiles all around.

“I am really, really happy with what we've done here today,” Judy Pierce said as she watched the last stages of cleanup.  Pierce is the Corps Solutions AmeriCorps Coordinator at United Health Solutions.  “The community really came together and donated so many items.  To think that, in these hard times, people are still ready to give to those less fortunate makes me very thankful.”

Pierce said that, because of the event, many homeless and needy people in Dayton will have decent clothing, some of which was new.

“We had designer pieces here – and they weren't worn out; some of them were like new!” Pierce said.  “But most of all, what impresses me is that so many people cared and gave as much as they could.  We received clothing from all over Montgomery County and I think every community deserves thanks for the success for this.”

Event Co-Chairs Jena Elkins and Anthony Head, both AmeriCorps volunteers agreed.

“You know, AmeriCorps is all about serving and making things better; not because we get some sort of reward out of it, but because it's the right thing to do,” Elkins said.  “Both of the Clean Out Your Closet events show that we're not alone in that belief and I wish I could personally thank everybody who had a part in it – people who gave us clothing, the stores and companies who gave bags and other things we needed, all the media people who got the word out, my fellow AmeriCorps members, and most of all the people who came here in the rain to receive the gifts that we had to give.”

Head said he wanted people to know that nothing was going to waste or for profit.

“Every piece of clothing that came in here is going free of charge to people in the Dayton area who are without a home or who do not have decent clothes to wear,” he said.  “Whatever we had leftover – and it wasn't all that much – we took directly to shelters where they would be distributed to those who need them at no cost at all.”
Pierce said that no exact numbers were available on attendance, but, she said she estimated that about 150-200 people, altogether, were able to benefit from the donations.

“That means that, because of the efforts of the AmeriCorps members and the Dayton area community, a lot of people will have good clothes to wear, not just for this summer, but also when they go back to school in a couple of months,” Pierce said.  “Thank you to everyone who made that possible.”

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Dayton Christian Center is a faith-based non-profit community action organization founded in 1921 by the National Baptist Ministries, USA; one of 19 such centers in the US. Our mission is Enriching and Empowering Lives, One Choice At A Time.
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Source:Philip Greene
Email:***@daytonchristiancenter.org Email Verified
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Tags:Dayton, Ohio, Community, Homeless, Charity, Service, Action, Thanks
Industry:Event, Free, Non-profit
Location:Dayton - Ohio - United States
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