Parishioners at Seaton Memorial open clothes closet

A grand opening for the clothes closet, attended by more than 30 residents and church parishioners, took place from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday at the church’s Outreach Center located at 5515 Lincoln Avenue.

The clothes closet, which is sponsored by the church’s Missionary Society, will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the third Saturday of every month at the Outreach Center.

‘‘We are truly excited about the clothes closet because we have so many gifts to give within our church and we really do want to help others,” said Penny McGruder, vice president of the church’s Missionary Society. ‘‘We just thought that a lot of times people don’t have the right clothes to go to work in. People can go to thrift shops if they need to, but we wanted to have a place where people could get more professional clothes.”

Juanita Smith, president of the church’s Missionary Society, said the clothes closet is an attempt to make the church more visible in the community.

‘‘We are so excited because this is really our first big venture into the community,” Smith said. ‘‘We’ve done other things but this is the first large venture of this type.”

Hay, 92, the clothes closet’s namesake, is the church’s oldest member and a revered figure among the church’s parishioners, McGruder said.

Hay, who was the first to mention the clothes closet as a possibility, said she wanted to provide residents with an opportunity to find reusable clothes at a location close to home.

‘‘There are so many things being thrown away that people can use,” Hay said. ‘‘If we use our things conservatively and don’t just throw them away and let other people use them, I know people will be better off.”

Articles of clothing available at the clothes closet will include dress shirts, khakis, shoes, scarves, handbags, jewelry and socks among other items.

Smith said that ‘‘seven or eight racks of clothes” have been donated already and that the Missionary Society is continuing to solicit donations. She said the clothes closet has been receiving donations for the past six months.

Lillie Hay, Carrie’s daughter and a member of the Missionary Society who is helping with the clothes closet, said the clothes have been organized by size to make it easier for patrons to find what they need.

She said that right now the closet offers mainly women’s garments and they have women’s clothing sizes ranging from four to 26 and shoe sizes ranging from five to 12.

Hyattsville resident Johnetta Miller, who heard about the clothes closet from McGruder, obtained a business suit, a pocketbook and three belts at the grand opening Saturday.

‘‘I loved it,” Miller said of the clothes closet. ‘‘It was very nice and really well-organized.”

Landover resident JoAnn Palmer, who attended with Miller, said she planned to tell her friends about the clothes closet and donate additional garments in the future.

‘‘I found me a purse, a scarf and a jacket that matches,” Palmer said. ‘‘It was great.”

McGruder said anyone can donate and parishioners at other AME churches in the area such as Reid Temple AME in Glenn Dale and New Liberation AME Church in Landover also will be receiving donations.

McGruder said if people think the clothes closet needs more of a certain item such as more socks, more casual clothes or different sizes, a request can be submitted for those items.

‘‘Whatever the need is, that’s what we’ll put the call out for,” she said. ‘‘It’s going to be pretty flexible.”

McGruder said she has just two requests of those interested in going to the clothes closet.

‘‘What we do ask is that people try on the clothes first and not horde all the clothes for themselves,” she said. ‘‘If you want an outfit or two, that’s great. Just don’t come in and take the whole rack. You need to be considerate of others.”

In addition to the clothes closet, the Missionary Society will be convening workshops in the future to help residents with work-related topics. McGruder said a resume building and job interview techniques workshop is being planned for ‘‘some time next month.”

To learn more about the clothes closet, contact McGruder at 301-805-7719.

E-mail Jonathan Stein at jstein@gazette.net.