The Swap is held about every 3 months (It has been at Kadena Elementary every time I have attended). The premise is simple: Register for the event via yahoo group before the swap. Bring your gently used, flawless kids clothes in by between 8:30-12 (they even have a drive thru from 8:30-9:30), come back a little before 1, sign in, find out how many points you get and then shop.
Of course, it does get a tiny bit more complicated (some items are worth less or more than one point, 4T+ clothes can have small marks because they are so in demand). Clothes must be separated by size in bags (outfits pinned together), and put in one big bag. All bags must have your name on it. You also have the option of donating your unacceptable items, or having them returned to you.
The ladies in charge of the swap are so great. They give up lots of time to organize it, pay for ALL the costs, and give up storage space in their home for the clothes. They also drive and pick up clothing that is donated to the swap.
The volunteers are especially amazingly awesome (yeah, I'm one of them), who give up time to make it happen. The reward for being a volunteer is 10 prepicks (you get to pick 10 items before everyone else comes). They sort through the clothes before the swap, or keep track of the points used during it.
As for the attendee's...I haven't seen a fist fight yet (or any fight). ;-)
The Okinawa Kid's Clothing swap donate all of their preemie cloths to the Storks Nest (it's a cottage program that provides free temporary housing for high risk pregnant women, parents of infants in the NICU and family members of critical patients in the ICU).
They have a free table for items that didn't meet swap standards, and the leftovers from that area go to the NMCRS Navy Thrift Store on Foster, and Kadena's Airman's Attic.
They are also helping out with the Mild Crunch fundraiser for Soles4Shoes by donating all the leftover shoes in the free bins. Thank you so much!
Just in case they weren't doing enough good already, this helps military members with children save money, and it keeps usable items out of landfills. How much greener can they get???
The next swap is August 18th. 1st time mommy's get 3 free picks (they must register first). To be honest before my first swap I was nervous. I had TONS (I think I got something like 180 points) of clothes to get rid of and I was worried about the quality of clothes. I have not had any issues. Bigger sizes are more in demand than smaller (my kids are on the bigger end), however I always leave with at least one garbage bag full of awesome looking clothes (some brand new). I have seen a couple duds in there, but the volunteers and coordinators are always on a lookout for these. If you find something that should NOT be in there, tell someone!
If you are still unsure and haven't attended before let me know, and I'll donate you 3 points so you can see what it's about.
If you don't want to swap, but would like to donate clothing please contact the swap or me, and someone will pick them up from you.
You can also help by sharing the post with people you think may be interested. I look forward to seeing you there!
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