Cold Mountain Prints owner orchestrates clothing drive
Nic Calder, of Cold Mountain Prints, and other San Benito
residents are collecting lightly used and new clothing for local
nonprofits.
”
As you can imagine, we end up with shirts that have defects,
”
said Calder, who runs an embroidery and print shop that
personalizes merchandise from T-shirts to backpacks to hats.
”
A few days ago I was driving through a shopping center and a man
had a sign that said he was cold.
”
Cold Mountain Prints owner orchestrates clothing drive
Nic Calder, of Cold Mountain Prints, and other San Benito residents are collecting lightly used and new clothing for local nonprofits.
“As you can imagine, we end up with shirts that have defects,” said Calder, who runs an embroidery and print shop that personalizes merchandise from T-shirts to backpacks to hats. “A few days ago I was driving through a shopping center and a man had a sign that said he was cold.”
Calder happened to have some long-sleeve shirts in his car that had been misprinted.
“I thought I would do a little clothing drive,” he said. “I could see how much a guy like that may not be able to get into Goodwill.”
Calder enlisted his friends, who helped him distribute fliers around town about the clothing drive, and their ultimate goal is to collect 5,000 pounds of clothes by mid-January. The clothing will go to local agencies that give the items out for free, not those that will resell them. Some of the places Calder has talked to include Emmaus House, which shelters victims of domestic violence, and Fishes and Loaves, a food pantry run by Sacred Heart-St. Benedict’s Church.
“A lot of women come to the shelter with basically next to nothing,” said Myriam Castillo, a volunteer at Emmaus House, who added that a clothing drive would be helpful.
Calder has also talked to a group called Community Action Agency, which helped form the Community Services Development Corporation in San Benito. The nonprofits offer support to low-income families, including programs that offer transitional housing and help reentering the workforce for homeless families.
“They are working with 24 families,” Calder said. “There are a lot of people ready to re-enter the workforce, but they have no nice clothes. They need to look respectable.”
The groups Calder has talked to said they will accept all kinds of clothes, whether it be casual or business attire.
“Really, they need everything,” Calder said. “They will take it all.”
Though Calder does not have a drop-off location set up, he said that anyone interested in donating can call him and he will arrange for someone to pick up the items.
“Everyone is cold,” he said. “Christmas is [here.] People will be spending money, getting new clothes. They may have stuff they haven’t worn in six months.”
He added that all the clothing will stay in San Benito County.
To find out more or to donate, call 637-9855 or e-mail Calder at
ni*******@co****************.com
.
