The Tigard-Tualatin School District’s Caring Closet has been suffering through the same woes as society in general dealing with COVID-19, supply shortages and increased demand.
Students who are referred by their school counselor can visit the Caring Closet store once in the fall/winter and once in the spring to shop for clothes, underwear and shoes at no cost to them. The Closet also provides hygiene products and emergency bedding supplies.
For many years, the Summerfield Women’s Golf Club has made the Caring Closet the beneficiary of its annual Charity Golf Tournament event that also includes a dinner, raffle and silent auction, and even during COVID-19 raised thousands of dollars for the Closet when they could not hold the event.
But this year, the tournament and dinner resumed in July after a three-year lapse, and Caring Closet Director Kim Thoren was invited to the golf club’s Aug. 4 meeting to receive a check.
“Your generosity was amazing,” event Chair Barbara Kelley told the group. “We are living in a time of high gas prices and other costs. But you stepped up and did such a generous job. I am so grateful.”
She asked Thoren to step up to the front and handed her a check for the Caring Closet for $14,000.
Thoren teared up, saying, “I told myself I wouldn’t cry. This is fabulous. I can only imagine how much work went into this – the tournament, prizes, raffle and dinner.”
Thoren, who attended the dinner with her husband, added, “It was just a lovely evening. Your loving hearts for the kids in our community is overwhelming. This is phenomenal. The last year has been a tough year for us with supply chain issues and families not donating as much, but the kids’ needs are the same.”
Thoren said she expects the Closet to be back to pre-COVID levels this coming school year, serving 1,800 students.
“I am thankful that we have the opportunity to do this because of people like you,” she said. “I also am grateful to the support we get from the administration and everyone else. I love my job, which is made more wonderful by people like you. I want to offer my sincere thanks from the bottom of my heart.”
Kelley said that 30 people divided into three committees were responsible for making the event such a big success, and she thanked all the ladies in the room who had worked on it.
