Leave the gun take the cannoli (9)

This season even the most posh, high end stores in NYC are slashing prices and  offering deals.  But nowhere could you find a better bargain than collection of free coats and sweaters offered to the homeless and low income clients of the Village Temple soup kitchen. 

The congregation of this reformed Jewish synagogue are unusually generous.  Twice a year they  clean out their closets and offer all their extra items to the poor.   Gently used coats, boots,  ivy league sweatshirts and stadium blankets  are snapped up by clients who’ve forgotten what its like to pay retail. 

My New  York Cares volunteers help to transform  the temple foyer into a  chic salon as they act like personal shoppers and fashion consultants.   Every “shopper” walks away with a  coat  and a bag full of sweaters, scarves and everything they need for either a job interview or holiday celebration. 

Although donations were down,  slightly, this year we were blessed with enough merchandise   to extend the coat give-away for an extra week.        

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 7:15 am and is filed under feeding the homeless, the disenfranchised. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.