HANOVER, Mass. — For the 16th year, Lapels Dry Cleaning held its annual clothing drive for two weeks in April to benefit the Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) Foundation, the cleaners reports.
“We really can never say enough about the generosity of our customers and the effort Lapels Dry Cleaning franchise owners put into this drive each year to make it a success,” says Kevin Dubois, CEO of Lapels.
The 2019 drive in the states of Arizona, Connecticut and Massachusetts collected a total of nearly 15,000 pounds of clothing within the company’s stores.
These donations are then turned into dollars and used to help fund Big Brother Big Sister mentoring programs, the cleaners adds.
“This drive is such a rewarding event in which we really demonstrate the power of being part of the local neighborhoods that we operate in,” DuBois relates.
“It’s really become a pride thing with our owners and it’s great to see one of our newer franchise owners, Lan Nguyen of Lapels Dry Cleaning of Wilmington, Mass., on Main Street, collect the most,” DuBois explains.
In addition to Wilmington, Nguyen also has Lapels locations in Concord and North Andover.
Adds Dubois: “Another thing that made this year’s drive even more impressive is that we had fewer states participating than in years past. That just shows you how much our customers have taken to the drive, especially now that it overlaps Earth Day on April 22. Our customers have made it part of their spring cleaning.”
The Lapels Dry Cleaning clothing drive to benefit the BBBS Foundation started on April 13 and ended on April 28. Nearly four dozen Lapels Dry Cleaning locations collected clothing for the drive.
The clothing collected by Lapels Dry Cleaning and donated to BBBS is then sold in bulk online, at auctions, at high-end thrift stores, consignment stores and at universities. The net proceeds from these sales go to support Big Brother Big Sister Foundation’s mentoring programs for girls and boys across this year’s participating states, the cleaners notes.
Items typically donated include: men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, coats, jackets, shoes (any season or size). Household items such as linens, sheets, blankets, towels, drapes, comforters, afghans, curtains, fabric and purses were also accepted.
“We can’t thank our franchise owners enough across the country and, of course, our customer base in helping us to give back to the Big Brother Big Sister Foundation and their mentoring agencies,” DuBois says.
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