- Nonprofit Lemondrop now has a spot at Morningstar Storage for their free clothing giveaways.
- The Clothing Closet Boutique will offer free clothes to neighbors there every third Saturday of the month.
- Watch the video to see how the new location increases outreach and relief for neighbors in need across Leon County.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
As families in all of our neighborhoods look to balance bills while meeting some of their most basic necessities, nonprofit Lemondrop works to fill the gaps with free clothing. I’m Kenya Cardonne in the Northwest Tallahassee neighborhood where the organization now has a location to serve the community. I'm looking at how this location will make it easier for neighbors to get the help they need.
After having pop-up clothing giveaways in different locations for years, nonprofit Lemondrop realized their humanitarian closet needed a place to call home.
Bre Bennett, President with Board of Directors of Lemondrop - "It's much harder when you don't have a stable location for people to find you. They're like 'Oh man, I missed that date,' or 'Where are they this time?'"
Board President Bre Bennett says Lemondrop offers a range of services from closet pop-ups, to 'Help Shelves' that provide neighbors with free groceries and house supplies.
Services that she says the need has grown for over time in Leon County.
Bennett - “Now with the way the economy has been, it’s just that much bigger.”
Felicia Rodriguez, Property Manager of Morningstar Storage - “Especially with the recent events, like the tornado and the hurricane, people have lost everything.”
Felicia Rodriguez with Morningstar Storage says she wanted to make sure Lemondrop could continue filling the need, so she gave them the keys to a storage unit on the lot.
Rodriguez says Morningstar gives away 5% of their units to nonprofit organizations, making Lemondrop one of 15 that get to serve the community from their facility at no cost.
Rodriguez - “If you’re renting units to people, you’re just conducting business. You should be helping them as well and that’s part of the culture of Morningstar.”
It’s thanks to that culture, selfless volunteers and the community’s donations that Lemondrop can now open its Clothing Closet Boutique every third Saturday of the month.
Saturday’s grand opening served dozens of neighbors, putting a total of 180 clothing items into the hands of those who need it the most.
An act of kindness that goes a long way for neighbors like Dian Haney.
Dian Haney, Neighbor - “That means a lot because you have a lot of people out there that are homeless, people that are in need and maybe too shy to come out. But, this would be a good opportunity to come out and be able to get something that you and your family may need.”
Lemondrop plans to operate out of here for the next year or so, until they can get a bigger, and hopefully, donated location.
In Northwest Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne, ABC 27
