Families hunted through piles of shirts, pants and even a "Santa Baby" sweatshirt during a clothes giveaway at Mount Trashmore on a recent Saturday.
Some held up clothes to ballpark the fit. The tables of clothes were given away at the Zero Waste Wardrobe tent that was a part of the wider Celebrating Children event.
The donated clothes both help families keep up with growing kids and prevent usable items from being thrown away. It represented the work of Virginia Beach Clean Community Commission volunteers who gather items and provide them to the public.
Zero Waste Wardrobe reduces waste and encourages reuse.
“It keeps clothes out of the landfill and it provides something for the community,” said Terry Stevens, chairperson of the commission. “We thought it would be a huge benefit to so many people in our city.”
The commission held the first Zero Waste Wardrobe in November during the annual Turkey Bowl hosted by the Sheriff’s Office and will keep the program going. The plan is for Zero Waste Wardrobe to coincide with Celebrating Children in the spring and the Turkey Bowl each fall.
“Spring and fall,” Stevens said. “We figure it’s a good time to clean closets and get clothes for the season.”
About 75 large bags of clothes were distributed at Mount Trashmore. Another five goes to the Virginia Beach Education Foundation for sale at the S.O.S. Thrift Store, which supports students in the city schools.
Delia Boord happened upon the Zero Waste Wardrobe event with three of her children. She said she would have donated some of their clothes had she known about it.
“Especially now, costs have gone up and this helps the community,” she said.
Zero Waste Wardrobe is supported by student members of the commission and its Student Leaders Committee.
“I’ve seen people leave with five or six full bags of clothes,” said Miles Pullman, a 17-year-old Ocean Lakes High School student who serves on the commission. “So it's really nice to just help people out like that.”
The commission collects clothes in the weeks before they are distributed. It will announce collection spots on its Facebook page under the Keep Virginia Beach Beautiful name.
