LINCOLN (SNR) – Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska (CSS) is teaming up with Pius X High School to pilot a new clothing-donation program.
In a trailer on the Pius X property, people may donate used clothing, shoes, belts, and purses. Some of the goods are given to the poor, and the majority of the goods are sold for revenue either in CSS thrift stores or as recycled material.
“Every donated piece of clothing is reviewed to determine if it can sell, be given away, or recycled,” said Father Justin Fulton, executive director of CSS. “Some clothes will be sold in the thrift stores in Lincoln, Hastings, and Imperial. And some will be given away. The rest can be recycled and sold to a distributor that in turn breaks down the threads and re-uses the cloth.”
The CSS locations in Hastings and Lincoln now have the ability to recycle the same way: at each location, CSS has a baler that allows CSS to bale the clothes that cannot be given away or sold at our thrift stores. The baled items are then sold to recyclers, who shred, treat and repurpose the material into things such as sound-dampening materials, carpet padding, and insulation.
Since Pius X High School will assist in this project, they will also share in the funding from sold recyclables.
“This allows all of us to clothe the naked and also, following the first words of God, to subdue the earth,” Father Fulton explained. “As Pope Francis has pointed out in Laudato si’, we are called to be prudent caretakers of our resources and recycling clothing gives us an opportunity to do this.”
Instead of throwing out cloth that will sit in landfills for decades, he said, recycling puts the resources to use and keeps it out of landfills.
“And we can sell this to help people both in our agency and at Pius X,” he said. “With our new baling and recycling operation, there really is no excuse to throw away a single piece of clothing. All of it can be given away, sold, or recycled. This is a way for every person to be united directly with CSS and get revenue back locally as well at Pius X.”
Father Fulton said he looks forward to the project helping people both in the CSS agency and in local parishes, schools and other organizations, as CSS is open to partnering with other schools, parishes or Catholic organizations like the Knights of Columbus who would like to serve as distribution points for clothing drop-offs.
Those interested in more information may contact John Haag at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
