‘Leave one, take one’
In Slatington, warm garments hang on clothelines to help those in need
At each end of Main Street in Slatington, not far from the borough’s official welcome signs, are some handmade signs, surrounded by scarves, hats and gloves hanging from fences and clotheslines.
“Have one, leave one. Need one, take one,” the signs say.
From early December through Christmas, the clotheslines stay up— somedays fuller than others, as those in need take what they need, no questions asked, and those who can spare add to it.
For a former quarry town once dubbed the Blackboard Capital of America, where nearly half the residents are considered low to moderate income by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Project Warm and Cozy is a helping hand. But it’s also done at this time of year for a reason.
“It’s not just for the less fortunate; it’s for anybody,” said Denise Martinez, a lifelong resident who started the project four years ago. “It’s to spread love and kindness, and holiday cheer.”
The project was the launching pad for a nonprofit she founded, Caring DAM Hearts — DAM are
her initials — which now has about 100 volunteers. It collects clothing donations in a storage facility in Slatington, which supplies the Caring Hearts Closet in Allentown, wherethosein need can “shop” for free.
For 29 years, Martinez held a managerrole in the baking industry before she discovered a heart condition that required surgery. A doctor told her she shouldn’t return to that line of work, and
she hit a low point.
Thenshestruck upafriendship withawomanwhowashomeless, and discovered her calling. She wanted to help others. The idea to collect a bunch of hats, scarves andgloves to hangonclotheslines inher communitycame suddenly.
“I came home from work and she goes, ‘I’m going to do a project,’ “said her husband, Ted Martinez. “And it’s going to be in two weeks.”
She summoned friends, family and about 300 articles of clothing to hang. The next year, it grew to 500. Last year, they counted 600.
This year, they’ve lost track.
“It seems to work,” said Keith Schaffer, who can see people taking clothes from his Diggity Dogs & More food truck across the D&L Trail parking lot. He started parking there four years ago, when the project began.
Even years later, many passersby on the trails or walking through town ask him about the clothes. This year, the pandemic brought even more people than usual to the trail.
“Alot of themdon’t even realize it’s here,” he said.
Resident Jeff Hausman, who
walks his dog Nissa on the trail, isn’t shy about speaking to people who hang up or take some items. Sometimes, he said, people take clothes because they can’t afford to buy clothes for Christmas.
Theneedisclear in his community, which no longer has a major industrial or manufacturing employer, Borough Manager Daniel Stevens said. The sewing mills that populated Slatington in the mid-20th century mostly closed in the 1990s. The slate industry, which built the town, also left.
Homelessness is not nearly the
issue it is in Allentown, but many people live paycheck to paycheck, Denise Martinez said. Soon she hopes to open a Caring Hearts Closet in Slatington.
Since putting the clotheslines up last weekend near the D&L Trailhead and Springside Fish Hatchery on the other side of town, the Martinezes and their volunteers have refilled them twice with donations dropped
off at their home, and some from their storage facility. Strangers also have hung donations.
“I love it, because you know it’s working,” Ted Martinez said. “This world needs more love and kindness.”