Shorewood Orchestra Clothing & Household Drive helps fund trip to Carnegie Hall

Shorewood orchestra at Carnegie Hall 2011
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools

Turn out those closets! This is the best opportunity you will have to donate items instead of putting them in the landfill.

Every four years since 2003, Shorewood High School Orchestra has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City. It is quite an honor that Shorewood continues to be invited back.

To raise money for the trip, Shorewood Orchestra is holding a clothing and household textile drive. Funds raised from this drive will reduce costs for the group as a whole.

Working with a company called Clothes for the Cause, the orchestra will be paid a sliding scale for each pound of clothing and household textiles collected. The more that is collected, the more Orchestra will be paid per pound.

What's great about this collection drive is that the clothing and textiles do NOT need to be in usable condition. This company will sort through and separate what can be reused and what will be broken down and recycled. Either way, Orchestra gets paid.

Items can be torn, tattered, stained, holey, smelly, stretched out and ready for the garbage can. All those items too grungy for Goodwill can be turned into cash for Shorewood Orchestra! All you have to do is pack your donations into plastic garbage bags so that they stay dry. You don't have to separate usable from unusable items -- the company does all that for you.

Here's what you can donate:

• Clothing of any kind/condition
• Gloves and hats
• Shoes of any kind/condition, paired or single (cloth, leather, plastic, rubber)
• Towels: bath, kitchen, rags in any condition
• Linens: sheets, blankets, quilts, table cloths, placemats in any condition
• Curtains, draperies, cloth shower curtains
• Throw rugs (not carpet)
• Throw pillows (not bed pillows)
• Bags and purses (synthetic/leather), gym bags, backpacks
• Stuffed animals

Here's what you cannot donate: glass, breakables, electronics, pet beds, bed pillows, carpet, uniforms, mattresses, hotel linens, items previously for sale at a thrift store (unless you purchased and used for personal use prior to donating).

Bring your donations to Orchestra's collection event on Saturday, November 1 from 10am to Noon at the Shorewood High School parking lot.

Questions can be directed to Rene

Orchestra students thank you for your generous support.