School supply giveaway organizers 'blown away' by need

Organizers of a school supply giveaway in Montague earlier this week say they were overwhelmed by how many people showed up in need of supplies.

"It was kind of a chaotic sea of people," said Halie Proude, who organizes the Community Closet giveaway at Cornerstone Baptist Church. "We expected that there would be need in that way, but we weren't expecting so many people."

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The group usually sees about 30 to 50 people come in each week to help themselves to free clothes, toiletries, and baby items.

But when the group held a giveaway dedicated to school supplies and food for school lunches on Wednesday, an estimated 80 people showed up. Within two hours, almost everything was gone.

"I was very surprised how quickly a whole counter full of lunch supplies and a whole counter full of school supplies went so quickly," said Proude.

Families from across the Island

Proude said most of the people who go to the Community Closet aren't members of the congregation, and many aren't from the Montague area.

By the time that some of these people were comingfrom like three and four hours away, we didn't have like much supplies left for them.- HalieProude

"A lot of the people, they came from anywhere like the MurrayHarbour area all the way to Wellington on the western side of P.E.I.," said Proude.

"I felt really bad too, because ... by the time that some of these people were coming from like three and four hours away, we didn't have like much supplies left for them, and they were making the big trip to come."

A lot of need

The giveaway started as a one-day event in January 2016, a clothing swap and a chance for people to clean out their closets.

But after seeing the need in the community, organizers decided to make it a weekly program.

Proude said she's heard from people who have to make difficult decisions about how to spend their money and what they can afford for their kids.

"If they had babies, that they had to choose between paying their light bill or their groceries or buying diapers. If they were older kids, trying to decide, 'Can I buy themclothes that are the right size, or can I feed them?'"

Proude said she hopes the Community Closet can help "relieve some of the stress and anxiety that families have."

So many people came out on Wednesday, Proude said, that some families didn't get all the supplies they need. She said the church will do its best to provide the rest of the supplies, and organizers plan to continue to offer lunch food during the weekly Community Closet.

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