Wilmington’s ‘free’ store runs on donations, volunteers and prayer

Ike Widner of Morris will never forget the time an Our Caring Closet client called him and asked if he could open up the store for her.

“I had a young lady who said they’d rescued her uncle form an abusive nursing home and she had nothing for him,” Widner, who’s volunteered for the nonprofit for three years and is currently serving as treasurer, said. “So I opened it up and gave her everything she needed. Then out in her car, she was on the phone crying saying, ‘God has answered our prayer.’ It made me feel so good.”

Another time, a man who was living in a chicken coop and had nowhere to turn for clothing burst into tears in the store, crying, “You saved my life,” Widner said.

But Widner feels Our Caring Closet “is the Lord’s work.”

“He directs the board members to work with each other,” Widner said. “And I believe they are doing a beautiful job.”

Our Caring Closet NFP in Wilmington offers free household goods and clothing of all sizes for people and families with an immediate need. Although Our Caring Closet officially became a nonprofit in 2012, it ran in conjunction with a local church program for several years before that.

Unlike some nonprofits where clients must meet certain income thresholds, the merchandise inside Our Caring Closet is free to anyone, Tony Ritz of Wilmington, president, said.

“We exist solely on the donations from community members and community entities like churches and financial organizations,” Ritz said. “And we are open to anyone with a need. We don’t’ make you fill out a sheet with your financial situation. Anyone can come in and shop for free.”

Ruth Lockwood of Wilmington, vice president, said the COVID pandemic has impacted Our Caring Closet in a good way, in terms of donations.

More people are either staying at home or working from home. So they’re taking the time to clean out closets and make room in their homes for remote learning, Lockwood said. Sometimes people need to go through belongings after a loved ones dies, she added.

“So a lot of those things are coming to us,” Lockwood said.

Ritz said Our Caring Closet’s primary mission is children’s clothing and it does have an account for purchasing new socks and underwear for them, too.

Typically when Our Caring Closet receives donations of diapers, those diapers tend to be for adults, he said.

Consequently, Our Caring Closet’s biggest need is for children’s disposable diapers, from newborn sizes to pull-ups Lockwood said. Diapers are expensive items for families, she said.

“If we could get donations of diapers, that would be wonderful,” Lockwood said.

Bonnie Huston of Wilmington, a board member who’s been with Our Caring Closet since its inception, said Our Caring Closet began at a local church that hosted a food programs for mothers and children and then decided to help with clothing, too.

“We did that for several years and then moved to another location,” Huston said, adding that Our Caring Closet is now in its third location.

Donations in those early days filled two tables, Huston said. Now they fill six rooms.

“That’s what I call blessings,” Huston said.

Judy Johnson of Wilmington, who handles publicity for Our Caring Closet and is a long-time volunteer, said the next closest nonprofit like Our Caring Closet is in Milford.

Johnson doesn’t anticipate the need for Our Caring Closet going away anytime soon.

“There has always been a big need in Will County,” Johnson said. “When I first started, about 35 percent of the children living in Will County were under the poverty level. I don’t think that’s changed.”

Lockwood said that 114 families visited Our Caring Closet in the first three weeks of January. Of those families, 172 were children, 196 were adults and 36 were people over age 65. Forty-seven percent came just once, she added.

“But 53 percent of our clients have visited multiple times,” Lockwood said. “Some of them are coming every week…our clients come from 25 different communities. As a matter of fact, we’ve had clients come from 50 miles away.”

Although Our Caring Closet did close in early March and into April and May, it was able to remain open when the number of COVID cases rose in the fall, Lockwood said. But by then, the nonprofit had safety protocols in place, she added.

“We allow them 15 minutes to shop,” Lockwood said. “We do temperature checks and ask them [clients] to wear masks and we ask them to social distance.”

Although Our Caring Closet is a volunteer-run organization – about 25 volunteers work a total of 500 hours each month, Lockwood said – it does have expenses to meet.

Rent, utilities, cleaning supplies, and personal protective equipment for the volunteers (someone is always working behind the scenes) costs between $1,600 to $1,800 a month, Ritz said.

“In 2020, we had about 45 pledge partners make donations toward our costs to help us stay open,” Lockwood said.

Lockwood said Our Caring Closet recycles cardboard and clothing it cannot use. It also partners with other nonprofits and makes donations to schools, such as donating warm outwear for their students or keeping extra clothing on hand.

Johnson added, “Children everywhere need clean pants and underwear when they have accidents at school.”

Although it takes donations, pledge partners and volunteers to keep Our Caring Closet running, Huston feels prayer is essential, too.

In fact, Our Caring Closet has a location inside the store where clients can, anonymously, if they wish, write down their prayer requests and place them into a container so volunteers can pray for them.

“We pray for our clients and we pray for each other – which is really important,” Huston said. “Some of us have health things going on, so it’s really important that we can connect with each other.”

Other Caring Closet board members are Debbie LaVigne of Braidwood, spiritual leader; Debbie Altiery of Braidwood, secretary; and Pat Dooley of Wilmington.

Our Caring Closet is located at 205 N. First St. in Wilmington and accepts, cash, check and credit cards.

Hours are 9 a.m. to noon, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because of the pandemic, people must register outside and wait their turn outside. Only a few people are allowed in the store at one time.

For more information or to donate, call 815-476-0900 or visit Our Caring Closet NFP on Facebook.