Community Organizations Benefit from Famous Wheeler Clothing & More Sale Donations

The Wheeler School community’s generous donations last fall to the Wheeler School Parents Association’s Famous Clothing & More Sale have been distributed to a number of local community organizations.

With the pandemic causing the cancellation of both the 2020 and the 2021 sales, parent volunteers brainstormed about how to put the stored clothing, athletic gear, household goods, books, and toys to use in a way that would benefit as many community organizations as possible. Happily, the WSPA was able to work with many area organizations to meet this goal.

The following nonprofits received Wheeler donations:

Books Are Wings
Two dozen boxes of children’s books were donated to this literacy nonprofit whose mission is to put free books in the hands of Rhode Island children.

Boys and Girls Club Fall River, Mass.
Toys, crafts, and books were donated to the Boys and Girls Club to make activity kits for the children. The Boys and Girls Club works to ensure that every child in the Fall River community has a safe place where they can learn, play, and grow.

Clothes To Kids RI
More than 100 bags of children’s clothes and shoes were delivered to this organization that provides, free of charge, new and quality used clothing to low-income or in-crisis, school-age children in Providence County. Our donation to Clothes To Kids was highlighted in a segment on WJAR Channel 10 News.

Dorcas International
Dorcas International provides education and job readiness opportunities, legal services for citizenship, and immigration and refugee resettlement programs. Two carloads of home goods and mens clothes were donated.

Habitat for Humanity
Our nearly full 22-foot truck delivered an array of housewares, household items, books, and accessories to Habitat, a nonprofit housing organization working in our local community. The organization’s Habitat for Humanity ReStores are nonprofit home improvement stores that sell new and gently used items to the public at a fraction of the retail price. Proceeds are used to build homes and improve communities.

Wheeler Theater Department
Various clothing items were given for use in future performances by the students.

In addition, various items were culled from our storage pods for online sales opportunities. Proceeds will provide a small source of revenue that can be used as seed money for next year’s sale.

Continuing to look for opportunities to maintain its support of Wheeler School programs and Breakthrough Providence, the Clothing Sale has formed a profit-sharing partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters RI with a donation box located in the parking lot adjacent to the Wheeler School.