Volunteer Dianne Ettlich helps bag clothes at the Clothes Closet at St. Patrick Parish in Placerville, which has distributed clothing to more than 3,000 families in need. Bitsy Kemper/Herald photo

A woman comes in with three children. They leave with two bagfuls of clothes and two stuffed animals. Another woman, pregnant, comes in to look around. She leaves with sheets and shoes. Yet another woman strolls in with a friend, followed within 20 minutes by another family, then an older woman. By day’s end, 20 to 40 shoppers leave with upwards of 100 bags of clothing in total without a single penny changing hands.

Such is the day in the life of St. Patrick Parish’s Aid Ministry Clothes Closet in Placerville. For more than 30 years the Clothes Closet has handed out clothing and bedding donated by local people. Everything at the closet is distributed free of charge.

Father John Cantwell, pastor, says the closet is “living the Gospel values for our times” by reaching out to those in need. Referring to Matthew 25:35 (“For I was…a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me…”), he is proud the parish offers such a service. Year-round inventory includes coats, blankets, towels, shoes and clothing for infants up to adult men.

“We help spiritually as much as we can,” said Diane Domagala, who has volunteered for more than 10 years and now leads the other volunteers. “They may have problems and there’s not much we can do. So we lend an ear. Sometimes all we need to do is listen.”

St. Patrick’s provides management and funding for the closet; four daily volunteers come from St. Patrick’s and other local churches. Regardless of parish affiliation, anyone is welcome to partake in closet items and over 3,000 families are on file. Shoppers are asked to kindly take no more than two items of clothing per person in their household and to limit visits to twice a month.

“The homeless only take what they can wear or carry, and tend to be very grateful. Once in a while we’ll get a card that says ‘thank you’ or ‘because of you I have been able to work,’” said volunteer and parishioner Pauline Raymond.

Donations are in abundance. An area hotel recently made an appointment to bring sheets and blankets the chain won’t use after their remodel. The outdoor drop box is often overflowing each Monday morning, keeping the pool of 24 volunteers busy sorting and hanging throughout the week. Out-of-season clothes are sorted, folded and stored in the cramped back room. In-season clothes are placed on hangars and sorted by sizes and gender. Full-size garbage bags are overflowing with donations to be sorted, sometimes five rows deep and three rows high.

“It can get pretty crowded. The Fire Marshall had us put up a sign reminding us to keep a clear path to the exit door,” Domagala said. “We’ve love to offer furniture but we have no place to put it.”

The closet has moved a few times in the past two decades but has operated in the current location, the bottom of the St. Patrick youth hall, since September 2003. It is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

“It’s interesting. What we really need are more volunteers, not more donations,” Domagala noted.

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