Local thrift store asks for donations during back-to-school season

SALT LAKE CITY — Back-to-school shopping can be expensive. Buying your kid a whole new wardrobe is not feasible for everyone. 

That is why as parents look through their kids’ closets and clean out the old to make room for the new, the Crossroads Urban Center’s Thrift Store is eager for donations.

Crossroads Urban Center Deputy Executive Director Bill Tibbitts said this is the time of year when the store gives away the most clothing.

“This is the time of year where parents actually go through their kid’s closets,” he said. “(They) say, ‘Ok, well this stuff is going to work; this stuff is not going to work.”

During back-to-school season, Crossroads gets more donations. Tibbitts said the store also sees an influx of people expressing their need for kid’s clothing.

He said the need is greater than ever this year. Crossroads has been serving a lot more people at their food pantries recently.

“For some people it’s a budget hit. It means they have to amass credit card debt,” Tibbitts said. “But I think for a lot of the families we serve at our two food pantries, it’s an expense that they don’t have a way of paying.”

He said 90% of the clothing donated to the thrift store is given away, not sold, to low income families who utilize their food pantries and other community resources.

Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. She also produces Utah’s Noon News.