Gurrado said the SCILL Center is looking for organizations or individuals who are interested in hosting a distribution center for the clothes. As of now, he said the winter clothing drive only has one distribution site at First United Methodist Church in Knox, and with hundreds of articles of clothing to be distributed around the county, they need more distribution sites to serve the community.
“We’ve been doing this for quite a number of years and our kids take a great deal of pride in it; the staff takes a great deal of pride in it, that we’re trying to help the community in some way,” Gurrado said. “We’re actually one of the biggest winter clothing drives in the entire area. Two years ago, we had over 750 articles.”
Gurrado said there are numerous drop-off sites for those who wish to donate winter clothes to support the clothing drive, including sites at Baileys, Best Ford, Sears, Five Star, Pioneer Florist in North Judson, and Key Bank.
“Business have literally come out of the woodwork; it’s almost like a fun thing for their employees. So we’ve got drop-off sites throughout the entire county. You’ll be able to see them because they’re about the size of a dishwasher box, and we actually have wrapping paper around it and it says ‘SCILL Clothing Drive,’” Gurrado said.
There are no requirements to request winter clothes from the SCILL Center’s drive. Gurrado said anyone who needs some extra layers to stay warm this winter simple needs to stop by the church or the SCILL Center and pick it up.
“We don’t ask for a W-2, and we don’t ask if you have a job or anything of the sort. If you need something, pick it up,” Gurrado said. “It’s that simple.”
Anyone who is in need of winter clothes or is interested in helping to host a distribution site can call the SCILL Center at (574) 772-8001.
