Image: Ernie Jantzen / Ernie Jantzen, founder and president of Clothes2U, is pictured at a clothes distribution event. Clothes2U is a non-profit organization that provides clothing to families in need. Clothes2U will provide low-cost clothing this Saturday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Chilliwack Alliance Church, 8700 Young Road. The entry cost is only $4 per person, kids 10 and under are free. The admission fee covers costs that Jantzen personally absorbs from running the non-profit organization. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Low-cost clothing event in Chilliwack

Low-cost clothing sale, Clothes2U, happens this Saturday in Chilliwack

Oct 24, 2023 | 1:06 PM

CHILLIWACK — Ernie Jantzen, the founder and president of Clothes2U, a non-profit organization that provides clothing to families in need, has no interest in competing with any retailer.

He simply wants to get clothing and other important items into the hands of as many families in the Fraser Valley as possible. His goal is to reach families who might be struggling to put food on the table and get adequate clothing for their kids, or themselves for that matter.

Clothes2U will provide low-cost clothing this Saturday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Chilliwack Alliance Church, 8700 Young Road. The entry cost is only $4 per person, kids 10 and under are free.

“I tell people that my focus is not on seeing how much I can collect,” Jantzen said in an email to Fraser Valley Today. “I have no interest in competing with Costco. My interest is seeing how many people can be helped.”

The first Clothes2U event was held in Langley on September 7, 2002. It was developed from a single parents support group Jantzen started several years prior.

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“My mindset was to do this once, maybe twice and move on. The response to the very first event educated me,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about a follow up so I just said that a date had not yet been set. I was asked, ‘Will you have coats at the next one?’ My answer was, ‘Of course we will.'”

By the time the next event rolled around, there were enough coats to meet demand. After some time, Jantzen expanded from just adult clothes to clothes for all ages, and began adding more categories and more locations.

The admission fee of $4 per person for anyone over the age of 10 is intended to cover a small portion of the expense Jantzen personally absorbs.

“Many people don’t realize that just because the items being given away were given to me for this purpose, that does not eliminate my expenses,” he said. “There is no fairy godmother to fly around and pick up donations nor does she take them to the venues. There are costs involved in running a business and there are costs involved in running a non profit. The entry fee goes towards the cost of operating Clothes2U. Those costs include vehicle operation at 50 cents/km, telephone line, website hosting, domain name registration, printing, and upgrades to our storage facilities.”

There will be clothes for baby to adult, toys, books, diapers and incontinence products, linens (blankets, sheets, towels etc.) personal care items and smaller household things. It is all free once a person or family covers the admission fee.

Image: Clothes2U / Clothes given away at a Clothes2U event, which aims to provide clothing at a low cost to families in need across the Fraser Valley.

Clothes2U holds events in multiple communities, including two events/year per location between Surrey and Chilliwack. Jantzen is currently in talks to try and secure a venue in Maple Ridge as well as one in Abbotsford.

Visit www.clothes2u.ca online or check them out on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/clothes2ubcsociety.