Chyan Gilaspy and Cheri Cole help fold and organize some of the clothes donated during the Hancock County Annex Annual Clothes Swap.
HANCOCK COUNTY — Anyone who has ever swapped clothes with a sibling or good friend knows it’s a great way to bulk up the wardrobe.
For a handful of ladies who work in the Hancock County Auditor’s office, swapping an outfit or two is a real happening, something some of the co-workers have turned into an annual giving event. Not only are the ladies benefiting each other and their families by sharing clothes they no longer use, but they’re also helping others who end up with the clothes no one claims.
Any of the clothes the ladies bring in that are not swapped during the week-long Hancock County Annex Annual Clothes Swap event for those who work in building are then given to the Hancock County Hope House.
Late last week, the ladies selected any clothing they might want to wear or needed from the hundreds of items brought in. They then folded and packed the remainder of the women’s, men’s and children’s clothes and took the items to the Hope House where they made a nice donation.
One of the ladies who helped organize the event, Nicole Byerley, Tax Settlement Administrator for Hancock County Auditor Debra Carnes, noted that the white summer sweater she happened to be wearing earlier this week when the Daily Reporter stopped by is something she picked out from the last clothing swap the ladies hosted.
“We’ve decided this is something we want to continue doing every year or every other year because we know it really does help others,” Byerley said.
Byerley has two kids, who she noted go through clothes faster than she can keep track of. Once her children outgrow their things, she brings the items in for her co-workers during their week-long swap.
If none of the co-workers or people working in the Annex building can use the clothing, the ladies then pack everything up after a week and take it to the Hope House — something Byerley did last Friday.
“We left it open for anyone to bring in any type of male, female or kids clothes,” Byerley said.
Darla Cutler, Transfer Deputy for the auditor’s office, also helped keep track of the clothing, which included folding and organizing all the items with the help of co-workers Chyan Gilaspy and Cheri Cole.
Cutler noted being able to pick up a different item or two from others is great for her and her family, but the real goal is helping others who are in real need.
“My heart is about giving,” Cutler said. “I think all of us in the office, we recognize just how expensive things have gotten, so it’s good to go through your things and purge some of the things you no longer use.”
Cutler added how it’s such a great feeling knowing someone, either a co-worker or someone in the community, is going to appreciate the things she and the others who donated no longer wear.
The ladies say they hope their clothing swap and donations will inspire other county workers and businesses to do similar drives to help their workers and the community.
Andrea Mallory, Executive Director of the Hancock County Hope House, said it was great to see the ladies bring in many bags of clothing late last week.
“Helping others out with clothes, it’s like our number-one thing,” Mallory said. “The number-two thing would be household items, but clothing, yes, we’ll take as much as we can get.”
Mallory went on to say, in those rare cases the clothing donated isn’t taken, the Hope House turns around and donates the items to another organization, which ships the clothing overseas to developing nations.
“We try to be the hub for donated clothes, so it’s nice when others take the time to make a donation to us,” Mallory said.
Now that the clothing swap and donation is over for this year, the ladies in annex building have their eyes on doing something special for the holidays and plan to get together a food drive. They’ve already reached out to Kenneth Butler Soup Kitchen officials to find out their needs and plan to go from there.
