Partner in Crime

Nabila and I volunteered at this organization called Dolly's Closet in Newark.  Again, my aunt was the one who introduced me to this organization. It looked like a typical thrift store.  There was a line with around 30 people standing outside Dolly's.  We entered the store and I felt really awkward because I wasn't sure what I was going to do as my task.  Nabila and I went to the back of the store where there were about 6 other women volunteering there.  Many of them were friendly and fun, but there was 1 that I thought took this job a little too seriously.  All the women who volunteered were "regulars" and knew exactly what they were doing.  First we were told to put boxes of hair dye on the shelves in the store.  This made me feel good because people actually donated "luxury" items and people were able to get make up, hair dye, new shoes, and beautiful unused clothing.  After we put all the boxes on the shelves, we were told to hang up clothes.  There were so many clothes! Stacks and stacks of bags full of clothes!  We probably hung up a little over 250 pieces of clothing during the 2 hours we were at Dolly's.  There were bags of food that were provided for the customers if they had a ticket that they received at the front desk where the woman in charge would sit.  Each time the bell at the front desk rang, a woman would rush down the hall to grab the ticket and give it to the woman filling the bags with food.  Once we filled the rack of clothes, we had to roll the rack out into the main room and hang up the clothes where they belonged from Infant clothing to Men's clothing.  There were so many people in the store looking at all the clothes and half the clothes we hung up were taken home that day.  There were so many smiling faces in the store and the volunteers seemed really happy that they were able to help people in need.  I felt like we actually made a difference in people lives.  My Aunty Renee told us that we were able to take a few things home for ourselves.  Nabila and I were always eyeballing the nice things that were donated to Dolly's.  We took a few cookies for ourselves.  I don't know about Nabila, but I felt like I was stealing from the people in need! The volunteers just laughed at us when we said that. Although I was totally exhausted after working for 2 straight hours on foot, I felt like it was fully worth it and I will definitely volunteer at Dolly's Closet again.

This social issue is important because there are so many people around the TriCity area that need help financially and can really used help from these organizations.  Free food and clothes were provided for these people and they were able to have luxury items as well.  People will especially need all this help during the holidays so they will be able to give their family and friends a great dinner and even some gifts.  Seeing that people are so appreciative of all the help volunteers provide them is really a satisfying feeling.