Carly’s Closet, a nonprofit that supplies clothes and school supplies to elementary school students, is now serving seven elementary schools in Lewis County, with hopes of continuing to expand into every elementary school in Lewis County.
“This milestone means we can now reach more children, providing them with essential clothing items to help them thrive both in and out of the classroom,” Carly’s Closet said in a May 21 Facebook post announcing its expansion from White Pass Elementary School, where the program originated in late 2023, into Morton, Onalaska, Toledo, Winlock and Napavine elementary schools.
Mossyrock Elementary School has since been added to the list, according to Carly’s Closet volunteers.
“By partnering with schools through the county, Carly’s Closet aims to provide a supportive environment where children can access clothing and shoes. Through our expansion efforts, we strive to empower children to succeed academically and socially,” Carly’s Closet says in its vision statement.
The nonprofit’s namesake is Carly King, a White Pass School District graduate who died of a rare form of cancer in the summer of 2023. She was 22.
“She was an extremely giving person and we just want to continue her spirit of giving and helping everybody and anybody who needed it,” said Carly’s mother, Quedessa King, who founded and runs Carly’s Closet alongside her sister, Mikel Myers, daughter, Madison King, Carly’s grandmother, Kim Elliott, and other volunteers.
Carly’s Closet started out by donating new clothes and other needed supplies to White Pass Elementary School, where Carly attended elementary school, for school staff to give directly to students as needed.
“Sometimes, somebody wets their pants at school. They would need something. Or sometimes (there’s) a kid in a bad situation … a lot of times it’s gloves for recess during wintertime. It’s not necessarily just kids in a dire need,” Quedessa said. “We’re basically working with school officials and going on their decision on what they need and what they need to hand out.”
After starting Carly’s Closet at White Pass Elementary School, Carly’s Closet organizers quickly began reaching out to other elementary schools in Lewis County to develop partnerships.
“We worked with them to figure out what they needed and we just developed our partnership that way,” Quedessa said.
Carly’s Closet accepts donations of new clothing and shoes at Willie’s Sport Shop in Centralia and through a registry at Walmart, along with monetary donations through Square at https://square.link/u/q8rLrYRb, Venmo @Carlys-Closet, and Security State Bank through the account Carly’s Closet.
The Walmart registry can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/47pce9mx.
Donors can specify which school they want their donation to go to, and 100% of monetary donations go toward the purchase of clothing, shoes and other needed supplies for kids.
Carly’s Closet will host a supply drive over the summer, with details to be announced on the Carly’s Closet Facebook page.
Carly’s Closet volunteers encourage anyone with questions about the program or donations to contact them at carlyscloset2023@gmail.com.
