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Date: 4/4/2023
MONSON — Coming right on time with spring cleaning, First Church will host a “Clean Your Closet” Fabric FUNdrive, during which the public is invited to get rid of any unwanted textiles that people haven’t known what to do with.
In conjunction with Earth Day, the fundraiser is a collaborative effort between the church and Savers thrift stores. However, there is a reason behind the choice for this fundraiser. According to Lee Brahen, the church’s office manager, “On November 1, 2022, the Textile Recovery Act was passed in the state, and per this law, residents can no longer discard any textiles in their trash.”
Brahen said, “The EPA’s report on municipal waste states 6% of all materials going into landfills or incinerators are clothing or textile products, from a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection fact sheet. Because we throw away so many valuable textiles in the trash, the Department of Environmental Protection has adopted a new rule to promote repurposing and recovery. This FUNDrive is First Church’s way of helping our environment and raising funds for First Church programs, as we did in 2017.”
The church is working with Savers for the FUNdrive, and according to church website, firstchurchmonson.org, “Savers, located on Memorial Drive in West Springfield, has designed a collection that is an environmentally safe and profitable way to dispose of unwanted items.” Brahen said that among the ways of repurposing used textiles, Savers uses the material for rags and even insulation.
To learn more about Savers FUNdrives, visit fundrive.savers.com.
The event will take place Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of First Church, located at 5 High St.
Acceptable donations include clean used clothing, bedding like sheets, blankets, mattress covers, curtains, towels, or any other woven good. The church said that household goods and books cannot be included. Donors are asked to bag clean items stored in large plastic bags averaging about 20 pounds per bag.
For questions, call the church office at 413-267-3312, office@firstchurchmonson.org.
The church would like everyone to know that it welcomes donations from the wider community. Those who donate do not have to be residents of Monson or members of the church.