Clothing Swap

My son's teacher is organizing the first annual clothing swap at the kids' elementary school.  I think that this is a great cause and we donated the items that the kids and I outgrew or just didn't wear any more.  I went through the kids' clothes at the beginning of the school year and donated their clothes that were too small at that time.  My daughter and I will be helping out and volunteering at this event.

I typically donate clothes to the local St. Vincent de Paul's clothing bank.  I like the idea of my kids' hand-me-downs going to someone that can really use it and getting them for free.  The problem with clothing banks, though, is that clothes can sit there for a long time if no one is in need of that size of clothes.  I like that about this clothing swap, though.  My kids are in Kindergarten and and second grade, so I'm sure that there will be kids their size that will get use out of their hand-me-downs.

I don't really have any friends with kids that are older (and bigger around) than my kids, so we don't get to be recipients of hand-me-downs.  The few kids in our neighborhood that are bigger than my kids have large families, so there is little that makes it long enough to become a hand-me-down.  I used to give my son's hand-me-downs to a neighbor boy that is three years younger than him, but that kid is about his size now.

The only thing that I would change about this clothing swap is where the leftover clothing will be donated.  I'd rather they go to a clothing bank, but they will be donated to a thrift store, instead.  I still think that this is a great idea and will benefit children that really need it.

Thanks for reading!

 ~ Vanessa