LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rebecca Ward started Clothe the West amid the 2020 summer protests in Louisville when a local organization offered her a large supply of brand new clothes.
What You Need To Know
- Clothe the West provides families with new clothes, shoes, toiletries and toys
- The program started as a temporary event but is still making an impact one year later
- The program will be hosting a one year anniversary at Shawnee Park on June 26
Ward and her team of volunteers set up in various spots around Louisville’s West End to distribute the items to those in need in the neighborhood.
“For me, it was a different outlet for me to serve the community to let brown babies know that they were seen and that they were heard and their normal had changed and I’m an adult and my normal had changed,” Ward said.
In just a few weeks, that supply had run out, but the need was still there.
“Kiddos weren’t in school, daycares were kind of closing so that is what I saw first and then parents were losing their jobs,” Ward said.
Clothe the West continued to support the neighborhood and Ward thanks to the support of the community for allowing the program to be able to do so.
Individuals would buy clearance items in bundles to donate and businesses would often host supply drives.
Clothe the West has hosted several events since its launch last summer including a pajama party to supply families with sleeping clothes and a Christmas program to collect toys for children.
The group has expanded from just clothes and also provides brand new shoes, toiletries, books and toys for kids to remind them there are people thinking about them.
“With the whole uprising happening and kiddos knowing that there’s other things going on, like there’s other people that see you, there’s people that love you that you might not even know and people that are rooting for you and we know that there are some bad things happening and some things that aren’t normal happening but we see you,” Ward said.
There is no sign up or application required to request the program’s support.
“I don’t need to see your ID. I don’t need to see how many people are in your household. If you ask me for something and I can provide it, I want to be able to provide it for you,” Ward said.
Ward’s goals for Clothe the West include turning the program into a nonprofit and investing into a truck to become more accessible.
“So that we have our items in a space and we can pull up with those items because right now we have a storage or we’re using different places to store things and we load them up in different people’s cars and take them into the communities,” she said.
Clothe the West will be celebrating its one year anniversary with the community on June 26 at Shawnee Park. There will be food, vendors, and arts and crafts.