Keren Minchas Shlomo: Dignity
Picture a forty foot long international shipping container perched on a semitrailer. The outer walls are bare of identifying markings. There are no signs or placards outside proclaiming the chessed that goes on within. Click for brochure (PDF)
Inside is a clean, well-lighted store; the walls are painted and the floor is carpeted. Beautiful, brand-new clothing is tastefully displayed on hanging racks and neatly arranged on shelves. Volunteer "salespeople" are on hand to assist our customers with their "purchases". It looks like a regular clothing store -but our customers aren't charged a cent.
Our customers know this -but their neighbors don't. Children, shopping in our store with a parent, are never told that this is anything other than a regular store. Their dignity and self-respect are guarded carefully.
Who are these customers? You might recognize them. Some are looking for work. Some are employed full-time but can't cover their expenses. Some are Torah scholars learning in kollel. Each of them has his own story, his own financial difficulties. Whatever it is, we can help out. We can put smiles on their faces.
Our store is fully mobile and travels from neighborhood to neighborhood. We remain in a given area for two or three months, depending on local needs. Each stop requires much advance preparation. Before we come to a neighborhood, there's lots of fieldwork to be done.
First, we approach the local tzedakah organization and request four things:
1. a place to park for as long as our store will be stationed in their neighborhood.
2. electricity for the lighting, heating and/ or air conditioning the store.
3. volunteers to help staff the store while we're parked in their neighborhood.
4. that they distribute our forms to people in their neighborhood whom they know would most benefit from our services.
Then, working from the forms that are sent back to us, we mail out coupons to families. Each family is given a private appointment at our "store." The recipients think it's a regular mobile business nowhere do we indicate otherwise. Every family is allotted a 45-minute time slot to do their shopping, with a quarter-hour interval between appointments -we don't want people to meet their neighbors while they're shopping.
Dignity -that's our highest priority. It's an incredible thing to see these people choosing brand-new clothing off the rack. The children's faces are alight with anticipation. Some of these people haven't owned new clothing in years. Some have never in their lives owned a new article of clothing. They leave our store thrilled with their new outfits -and outfitted they are, from head to toe, with everything from socks to yarmulkes.
Seeing children's radiant faces as they hold their father's hand walking to shul on Shabbos or Yom Tov makes it worth all the many resources we invest. Come be a partner with us in this wonderful mitzvah!