A new school year is upon us. My friend Judy describes fall as the time of renewal – the best season of the year, the time of fresh crayons and new beginnings. I like that. I agree with her. Like her, I am a former teacher (albeit college, where we certainly didn’t use crayons, but maybe we should have!). Fall is the time to wipe the slate clean and start new again.

I hope that I am not beating a dead horse with you, dear readers, because I have talked to you about one of my favorite causes before – the Renton Clothes Bank. But this time I’m writing about the clothes bank, because it is in danger of closing. We have lost our major source of funding from the City of Renton (it is a grant process, and we came up short). As a board member, we are desperately seeking new sources of funding; but as we all know, there are no guarantees.

I’m worried about what the kids who need us will do without a clothes bank to help. There are so many little (and big) ones starting off the school year once again without clothes to make them feel acceptable, make them feel “cool” walking into the classroom for that new year. Heck, I’d throw cool off the radar screen if we could just get kids into the classroom with clean and proper underwear. Whoa! I have shocked you now, haven’t I? Can I tell you a story?

A family liaison told us last year about a seventh (!) grader who went to school with her dad’s boxer shorts fastened by a pin because those were the only underpants she had. Sigh. We have stories of little children wetting their pants because their lives are so, so, so stressful that new underwear is a godsend. Not the best stuff I have ever talked about, I know. We have heard about a kid with his shoes duck-taped. His feet were wet so often, and without socks, the shoes were literally rotting away.

Last year, the Renton Clothes Bank served more than 8,000 families. This past quarter, there were 1,645 individuals, including 881 children receiving free — yes, I’m reminding you – free clothing for work, school or just basic living. If you don’t know, patrons receive referrals to the clothes bank from local service agencies, such as the Salvation Army and local churches. Without the city funding, I’m not sure what the clothes bank will do. I have faith, though. I have faith in our community. But I would like to give a caveat to our readers. Clothes aren’t the only thing we need. We need dollars. And, we need volunteers. And, dear friends, we need socks and underwear.

Imagine a little girl in her daddy’s boxer shorts, and spring for a one of those groovy seven-day-a week packages of underwear that a seventh grader should wear. You can find out more about the clothes bank at rentonclothesbank.org.