Westchester Families Need Your Help: Donate Clothing to The Sharing Shelf

Clothing insecurity is growing in Westchester County. In 2024, The Sharing Shelf, the nonprofit Clothing Bank serving children and teens in need in Westchester, provided clothing to 6,764 children and teens. That’s an increase of 23% from 2023, and the need for clothing continues to grow: In the first month of 2025, requests for clothing grew 84% over the same period in the previous year – from 324 requests in 2024 to 597 in 2025.

Requests to The Sharing Shelf for clothing for the children and teens came in 2024 from 588 staff members at 161 community partner agencies across Westchester. Those children and teens live in every community in Westchester.

Those numbers have grown, too. The number of staff members at partner agencies who requested clothing grew from 522 in 2023 to 588 in 2024. The number of partner agencies grew from 138 to 161.

While Westchester is among the nation’s wealthiest counties, its poverty rate for children under five was 11.1% in 2023, according to Westchester Children’s Association. More than 67,000 children and teens live in poverty or a low-income home in Westchester.

Clothing insecurity is often overlooked, on the assumption that as long as one has some kind of clothes, there’s no problem. But for students to perform well in school – and stay in school – they need to have clothes that are the right size, that are appropriate to the season, that reflect their personality, and they need enough of them to be clean. Imagine how you would feel going into a meeting inappropriately dressed, and how you would perform in that situation.

How can Westchester residents help? By donating new or gently used clothing in all sizes, from newborn through adult XXL to The Sharing Shelf’s Clothing Bank in Port Chester. Donated clothing should be in clean wearable condition, ready for immediate distribution. Clothing donations are by appointment only and can be scheduled through our website: www.sharingshelf.org. There you can find both our seasonal and year-round clothing needs.

At The Sharing Shelf, volunteers are core to our work, and, as clothing insecurity grows, our need for volunteers grows as well. Volunteers must be at least 14 years old, and a parent or guardian must actively volunteer with teens ages 14-17. Pre-registration through our website is required for all volunteers.

You can also organize a clothing drive, donate funds, or visit our Target registry or Amazon wishlist to order new items that The Sharing Shelf needs. Relevant information is available at www.sharingshelf.org.

Having clothes that fit properly, are seasonally appropriate, and make a child or teen feel comfortable, are enormously important to their well-being and performance. You can help children and teens across Westchester have the benefit of such clothing. I hope that you will join us in doing that. It’s enormously fulfilling.

The author, Deborah Blatt, is Founder and Executive Director of The Sharing Shelf, the nonprofit Clothing Bank serving Westchester County.