The Leander ISD PTA Clothes Closet was started in 1990 by a gentleman, who at the time, felt there was a need for clothing for students in the district. When it started, it was incredibly small, but has expanded over the years. 

“We are under the umbrella of the PTA for Leander ISD,” Dannielle Romero-Vazquez, LISD’s PTA District Chair, said. “We are supported by our local PTA and every local PTA for all of our campuses has a Clothes Closet Chair, and they are the point-person between us and the individual campuses. Basically, what we do is we provide gently used clothing to all of our students who reside in LISD boundaries.”

Currently, the location near Leander Middle School occupies two large portables, one for the store itself, and the other for donations to be sorted. 

“Each student receives ten shirts, ten pants, or shorts, or skirts, five brand new pairs of underwear, five brand new socks, two pairs of gently used shoes and then two coats,” Romero-Vazquez said. 

The store is open every Tuesday that the schools are open, as well as the first and third Wednesday of every month and the first Saturday of every month. The store is also open for both parents and students to volunteer. 

“Volunteers will sort clothing that we receive to make sure that it’s school appropriate, and also make sure it’s not too worn out,” Romero-Vazquez said. “Then they fold it and put it in the appropriate bins by size; they’ll also hang, so if there’s a certain size or style we need in the shopping store, they’ll hang them and tag them.”

There are multiple volunteer opportunities that are open to clubs such as National Honor Society, AVID, and Rotary Club.

“Whichever campus needs some volunteer hours, they reach out to us and see if we can host a group of them,” Romero-Vazquez said. 

Last year, the store was technically open but due to COVID-19 the way the store functioned was forced to change. 

“We had to do individual shopping,” Romero-Vazquez said. “Families and students were able to fill out Google Forms with their information, then we did the shopping for them and a porch-drop pickup.”

This year, with the store being able to open up fully, the store has seen an influx in community participation.

“We have received more volunteers than ever,” Romero-Vazquez said. “We have received more students coming in and shopping for themselves, and just a lot more positive feedback from the community because we’re changing it from ‘If you need assistance’ to ‘This is open to everybody, this is our community thrift store for LISD.’”

The PTA Clothes Closet is currently trying to rebrand by reaching out to local students for help. 

“We’re also going to do an upcoming pop-up shop for high schoolers and just have an afternoon where high schoolers can come in and shop,” Romero-Vazquez said. “We’ll roll the carts outside and have some volunteers, and hopefully the students will want to encourage every high schooler to bring their friends.” 

Everyone working was incredibly excited about a new South location opening up at Four Points Middle School so students in that area can have somewhere closer to them to go and shop. 

“I’d like [students] to know that they can come back whenever we’re open and check out new outfits because we always have something new,” Romero-Vazquez said. “These clothes are also free, there is no income requirement or verification for where you go to school. If you want to shop and get some cool clothes, you’re welcome to come here.”

A Teen Thrift Night is being held on Saturday Nov. 13 from 6:30-8:30 at the Leander MS location.

More information about LISD’s PTA Clothes Closets can be found on Facebook and Twitter, as well as their personal website.