Cloquet's free closet idea takes off

There's a new, highly exclusive clothes store in town, but it caters only to Cloquet teenagers. Oh, and did we mention that the clothes are all free?

The new CHS Community Closet was born out of a discussion between Cloquet High School paraprofessional Shelley Robideaux and physical education teacher Brenda Gigliotti.

"Last year before Christmas we put together something almost like a garage sale, but everything was free," Robideaux said, explaining that teachers, staff and others donated whatever they had to spare and they filled the whole conference room. For three days, students could come in and pick whatever they wanted.

"At first they were very apprehensive about it, but as they started seeing what was in there, they started coming in a couple times a day and grabbing whatever they wanted. We had toiletries and all kinds of stuff people just had sitting around."

The high school is letting the two women and other volunteers renovate a storage room by the football locker room. They got a grant from Cloquet Ed Foundation to help with costs, and the winner of last year's Coin Wars, Deb Mikkola's homeroom, donated 75 percent of their $1,200 winnings to the community closet.

We don't know hours or how it will be staffed yet, but we're going to try to have it available to all the kids who are in need," she said. "Really anyone can come in."

They are asking for donations of new or gently used clothing in almost all sizes, with brand-name items and warm winter clothes especially appreciated. Other needed items include toiletries.

They plan to have racks of coats, hats, mittens, lots of clothes and shoes, even toiletries such as shampoo, deodorant and feminine hygiene products.

Items should be in good condition and clean - they don't want to become a dumping ground for people.

"A lot of teachers are bringing things in. Steve Battaglia (the high school principal, reputed to have a good fashion sense) brought bags in. It's kind of cool, because everyone's just kind of coming together with it."

While the community closet is new to the high school, the Cloquet Area Alternative Education Program at Garfield School has been running a free closet for kids for several years, and they also appreciate donations of gently used clothing, coats, boots and toiletries for kids ages 12 and older.

Both schools will accept monetary donations too, which they would use to pay for needed items such as toiletries.

While Cloquet Middle School social worker Collette Lenarz started a kids' closet at the old middle school, there was no extra space when they moved to the new school. She said she hopes to send kids over to the high school when there's a need, since the two schools are now so close together.

"I'm super excited about the new one at the high school; we will utilize that," Lenarz said.

Churchill Elementary School social worker Don Gentillini said the two elementary schools in Cloquet don't have any kind of closet structure, but they do welcome donations, especially of winter boots and coats and other outerwear such as mittens and hats to give to kids who need them.

Email [email protected] or [email protected] about donations.