I went to Cradles to Crayons on March 2nd and volunteered.
I checked the donated clothes for quality, letting, and design. The clothes were separated by sizes, types, and genders. I was surprised that there were a lot of clothes when I walked in. Before I began my work, I was told that I should put clothes in a red box separate from the ones I donate to children, if the clothes had designs related to seasonal events such as Halloween or Christmas, had designs related to family members, had frayed threads, or had pilling. When I first heard this, I did not understand why it is necessary to do so. However, when I asked a staff, he explained that it was because the child might be bullied or saddened by receiving those clothes. This is because we do not know if all children celebrate Christmas, etc., because not everyone is of the same religion, and not all children have families. In this way, I learned that they consider the children’s feelings who receive the donated clothes. I also learned that if there were even a few pilling, they could not be put into the bags to be donated, and I thought those clothes could be utilized and reused in a different way, such as bags or dust cloth.
I’m researching poverty, so I can use this field trip as one of the solutions. Also, I’m curious how the donated clothes are given to the children. Finally, I would recommend Cradles to Crayons to anyone who wants to volunteer to help children. I am glad that I was able to have a valuable experience even though this time was short. I want to participate again to help children in developing countries in need. Also, through this volunteer experience, I would like to donate clothes that I no longer wear instead of throwing away.
Haruka Yamamoto