Community clothing swaps help families make ends meet in Utah County

OREM, Utah — Stepping up to help each other make ends meet, the Orem community is helping families get things they need this winter through a clothing swap.

Monday evening at Lakeridge Junior High, families picked out items and filled bags with clothes, jackets, shoes, books and more.

“It’s a blessing to be here, to be able to have them get the clothes they need and be able to give back too,” said Alyssa Dixon, a mom of three. “As a single mom, it’s really hard to support and especially for how expensive prices are, with inflation, gas prices, everything going on, it is really hard to do that extra thing of clothes they want and clothes they need.”

All the items are donated by others in the community. The free clothing swap was hosted by the Alpine School District’s outreach team.

“It’s for everybody in the community,” said Alyson Madsen, the community outreach coordinator for the Alpine School District. “Whether you have school-aged kids or not.”

Families brought clothes their kids outgrew or don’t wear anymore, and got to pick up new ones.

“It feels pretty good because you don’t have to pay for it,” said Lia Atondo, an eighth-grader at Lakeridge.

Last year, the swap was only at one school. This year they expanded to more schools because they saw a need and have been collecting donations since September.

“It’s filling a need,” added Madsen. “It’s filling something that ordinarily they couldn’t get on their own for their own family. And it makes me emotional sometimes because it’s just something that we can provide that they can’t for themselves.”

Kids get to pick out their own clothes, which helps them feel more confident, with the opportunity to express their own style. Plus, staying warm in the winter is now one less thing these families need to worry about.

“Going through the battles of life, it’s just super helpful,” added Dixon.

There’s another clothing swap this Friday at Orem Junior High School that’s open to the public. And if you want to help, they need more winter coats. Donations can be dropped off at the school before or during the event from 6-8 p.m.