The Pickup Gmach: Hashgocha Pratis

Submitted by The Pickup Gmach: But first, who are we?

If you appreciate your clothing and would like others to appreciate it as well, would hate for it to be wrinkled or rained on in the donation process, AND want it gone right away, hassle-free, then this pickup service is for you!

We are a free pick-up service for gently-used or new current children’s clothing, passing it on to needy Lakewood families who don’t mind wearing used clothing as long as it is current and in excellent condition. We operate a boutique and approximately 13 families come to “shop” for free, “buying” the clothing that we collect.

Although there may be some families who don’t mind dressing their children in clothing that is out of date and style, that is not the clientele this gmach services.

 

STORIES:

-A lady was donating her husband’s new Cole Haan shoes and contacted the gmach, specifying the condition, brand and size. The gmach volunteer called a family in the gmach who had a bachur who wears those size shoes. He picked up the phone. He had taken off from yeshiva that afternoon because he just needed to buy shoes and couldn’t hold off anymore. When the volunteer called, the bochur who needed the shoes answered the phone because he had quickly stopped at home before running out to go shopping. They were the exact size he needed! He was able to go back to yeshiva and learn without having to worry about finding a good deal on shoes!

-A lady needed a dress for her child in a specific size. Many other families in the gmach had come and looked at the dress but didn’t take it for whatever reason. The lady came…and that was the perfect dress; perfect size, perfect cut, just right for her child. It was waiting just for her! She was so thankful to have a beautiful Yom Tov dress for her child.

-A lady came to the gmach one night looking for a coat for her son. A coat had just come in that very day in the size she needed for her son.

-A young girl had recently had a growth spurt and her mother needed new clothing for her. Within a week of needing new clothing, a donation had come in with many, many beautiful and excellent condition outfits in that exact size she had needed. What a huge help! What a huge expense she was saved.

-A mother called the Pickup Gmach, “Thank you! I cannot thank you enough. I have many pre-teen daughters and it is quite an expense making sure they have enough summer clothing. Summer clothing is a big expense for me since there are no uniforms in camp! I try to keep spending to a minimum but as much as I am careful to buy, it still really adds up. My husband can’t believe how low our summer credit card bill is, much lower than any other summer. I attribute it to the Pickup Gmach since I hardly purchased anything for my girls this year. I just had to buy some knee socks, shoes, etc. since the bulk of the summer items I needed came from the gmach. My girls are totally satisfied with the gmach stuff since it’s still in excellent condition and it’s current. They don’t feel like they are wearing someone else’s used-up things. We even got Natives for my girls from your gmach. I never would have bought them otherwise. Thank you again for all you do, helping my husband learn without the stress that the summer brings!”

…Thank you, Lakewood for your outpouring generosity toward the Pickup Gmach, helping us help the families clothe their children in respectable clothing, saving them a huge expense.

Thank you for always donating your excellent condition (not pilled, stained, stretched out…), stylish and current children’s clothing in sizes 0-16 girls and 0-12 boys. It is so appreciated by our families of yungerleit and rabbeim. Clothing that is not “used up” is very hard to come by, so it is much appreciated, helping the families look bakovidik.

How to Get Rid of Unwanted Clothing

Please understand that we do not accept bags of stained, pilled, torn, ripped, washed out clothing that was passed down several times. It is not what we’re looking for because it won’t hold up and will not look acceptable for another use.

If you’d like to clear out your attic or get rid of that type of clothing, please contact:

Simla us if it is still usable but unwanted, 732-746-5533 (a yiddishe business)

-or a non-Jewish organization that does home pickups and goes towards acceptable causes, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters at 877-336-8828 (they take everything- usable, unusable, etc.)

HOW TO DONATE TO THE PICKUP GMACH-3 Easy Steps:

  1. Sort through your clothing, giving us what we ask for: size 0-16 girls, 0-12 boys, current and stylish, excellent condition
  2. Put in a garbage bag, seal (from rain), and label “Gmach”
  3. Place outside and THEN text us with your address once it’s out at 848-525-6961.

Leave it out until picked up. Do not take it back in!

Pickups are done Sunday-Thursday night. Please don’t text late Thursday night or Friday.

Thank you and Tizku L’Mitzvos!

We are sorry but we are at our limit for the amount of families we service, as we are a small scale gmach run by volunteers out of a basement location. We make sure to give all our extras to other Lakewood gmachim (pre-sorted, only the nice things), so they can help more people than we are able to service. Please do not contact us to join at this time.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. “Althought there are some ppl who don’t mind dressing their chikdren in clothing that are out of date or style”
    Most ppl do mind but some ppl don’t have choice! Since you are only servicing 13 families(out of hundreds!)in Lakewood at this time i find that sentence a little insulting!

  2. To Lakewood Resident, I don’t think you should be taking it personally. I happen to know the individual who runs this Gemach. She is a very special individual who truly wants to help others. I have no doubt that if she could, she’d take on many more families. I cant speak for myself, however, just thinking about clothing children from 13 (possibly large) families is quite a dizzying task. Knowing her, she’d probably take many more if she could. Please don’t take offense. I don’t think the focus is style and trend. I think she just doesn’t want people calling her to come pick up their very old clothing that belongs in the purple heart bins. Maybe try contacting her to see if you can assist with this mitzva and enable her to possibly expand her recipient base. May you have much nachas from your family.

  3. it’s amazing that we were able to accommodate 13 families! It’s a small operation run by a couple of ladies on their “free time” –young mothers with many children taking time from their many things to do to run this, in a basement.
    Since nice clothing that is used is hard to come by, there’s not that much at the end of the day that’s appropriate. Additionally, since we want to help as many people as possible, we give all our extras (nice, in style, good condition, pre-sorted) to other gmachim here in Lakewood so other people can benefit also.

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