Non-profit distributing low-cost clothing at Chilliwack event later this month

You can find out more about Clothes2U Society by visiting them on Facebook at facebook.com/clothes2ubcsociety.

“I tell people that my focus is not on seeing how much I can collect,” Jantzen said in an October 2023 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.

“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,” Jantzen 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.”

by Mike Vanden Bosch

Non-profit distributing low-cost clothing at Chilliwack event later this month

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