Volunteer donates her time to help shelter keep clothing organized and ready to wear

Shoes, men’s size 9. Pants, 34-inch waist. Long-sleeved, medium T-shirt.

Clothing requests come in all sizes at Clifton Sanctuary Ministries, a men’s homeless shelter in LakeClaire, where volunteer Leigh Reynolds can lay her hands on each item in seconds.

For the past three years, Reynolds has taken charge of the shelter’s clothes closet. It started when she helped a friend sort through a deceased brother’s belongings.

“He was a real clothes horse, with scuba gear, polo whites, baseball uniforms, hats, vests,” Reynolds said. “He had more clothes than most of the women I know.”

Reynolds, who lives in the neighborhood, knew that Clifton catered to men. So she loaded up her car and headed over.

“The director took one look and said she’d take everything — if I’d come into the closet and organize them,” she said. “So I went in and started folding and sizing things to get them ready for people to use.”

Before Reynolds could finish, another donation arrived.

“I stayed to help and have been there ever since,” she said.

The initial task of organizing what already was in the closet took months.

“If a guy came in and needed a medium, long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of size 9 shoes, you’d have 200 shirts and 100 pairs of shoes to sort through,” Reynolds said. “Nothing was labeled or sorted. And if the staff has to spend time digging through a bin of shoes, that’s time taken away from ministering and engaging with the people.”

Reynolds tapped into her inner Marie Condo, sticking to the professional organizer’s rule of purging and folding. Shirts and shoes were color-coded by size, and pants were labeled with waists and lengths, making it easy to search for just the right item. At the same time, Reynolds tossed what didn’t work.

“I firmly believe we all deserve to have a clean outfit without holes, stains, missing buttons or ‘Smith Family Reunion’ written on it,” she said. “Clothing is a boost of self-esteem.”

Reynolds also separates and redonates items that don’t fit the residents’ needs.

“The sign outside doesn’t say ‘men’s shelter,’ and people sometimes think we serve families,” she said. “So if we get baby blankets, children’s clothes, women’s skirts or high heels, we sort them out and get them back into the community where folks in need can use them.”

Reynolds, who works part time as a property manager, estimates that she spends anywhere from four to seven hours a week at the shelter, often working alongside friends she’s recruited or other volunteers.

“Well, you start in the clothing closet, and then you’re wandering into the kitchen to make dinner,” Reynolds said. “I’ve done that a time or two.

“It’s always been a labor of love.”

COURTESY For three years now, Leigh Reynolds has kept the clothes closet at Clifton Sanctuary Ministries organized and sorted. It’s “a labor of love,” she said.