The Sedalia-Pettis County United Way, in coordination with the Pettis County Community Partnership (PCCP), has begun collecting donations for their “Cram the Closet” event. Cram the Closet is an initiative that helps meet the needs of county residents who are struggling financially by filling the Community Closet with home, hygiene and childcare products.

“Cram the Closet was born in March of this year through the United Way,” said Staci Harrison, Executive Director of the Sedalia-Pettis County United Way. “It’s a service outreach program for our community to meet unmet needs for folks who are really trying to help themselves. This is a hand up, not a hand out.”

Items sought for the Community Closet include diapers, wipes, paper products, hygiene products and household cleaning products. These items help individuals care for their children, hygiene and to gain employment.

“There aren’t services out there to help support folks with removing these stumbling blocks,” Harrison said. “So, we partnered with the Putting Roofs Over People (PROP) coalition with PCCP as they have a Community Closet.”

The Community Closet was formed from a previous event called Homeless Connect. Homeless Connect was designed to connect people with resources for employment and personal struggles.

“We identified that Homeless Connect had kind of ran its course,” Harrison said. “So, the Community Closet was born. The United Way has the Cram the Closet program to help fill the closet with some of those unmet needs.”

Cram the Closet was first started by Tyson Foods and PrintLynx. Harrison called a meeting with local new car dealers to coordinate with them about donation collection.

“All of the new car dealers are on board,” said Kyle Herrick, of Bryant Motors. “That’s Bryant Motors, WK Chevrolet, Rick Ball Ford, Williams-Woody Nissan and McCarthy Toyota. We have a truck on our showroom floor, so we’re playing “Cram the Truck.” We want to invite everybody in the community, not just customers, to bring paper goods, bring hygiene products and bring diapers.”

The United Way is working with service organizations in Pettis County to distribute the items. Those organizations determine who to help with the items.

“This isn’t something where it’s a store that community residents can go to, but they can work through daycare centers. They can go through Katy Trail Community Health, the Pettis County Health Department and all of the United Way funded partners.”

Donations can be dropped off at any of the new car dealerships during regular business hours. For more information or questions, contact Staci Harrison at (660) 826-2980.

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