High demand leads to chaos, upsetting issues at clothing giveaway in Sudbury

A group that distributes winter clothing to people in need is reporting some unsettling incidents that took place as it tried to hand out items to the needy.

Closet Share in Sudbury is the distribution point for one of the community winter clothing drives that works to keep people warm this winter.

A warehouse area at Closet Share was where 3,000 pieces of winter clothing donated by the community were given away this past Saturday.

The demand was so heavy, the group says it will need many more volunteers to help with distribution days after some unsettling issues arose this past weekend.

“By 8 a.m., we had a line up over 40 people outside,” said Melissa Porter, Closet Share founder.

“By 10 a.m., we had over 200 people walk through the doors. By 10:28, we ended up having to ask everyone to leave because we ran out of supplies.

Fighting, racial slurs

Porter said there were some upsetting issues at the clothing pickup.

“There were a lot of people fighting for clothing and there were some racial slurs going on, so we basically just asked everyone to leave once all the product was gone,” she said.

The warehouse is already being restocked for another giveaway Nov. 22 and 29. Porter said she was shocked and upset by what she saw.

“It’s heartbreaking to see that people are fighting over winter clothing because they are in such need of it,” she said.

“It’s not just newcomers, it’s not just the vulnerable -- it is everybody in our city that is struggling right now.”

Porter said she asked Greater Sudbury police to help with crowd control, but was told it would have to be a paid duty officer that the non-profit said it can’t afford.

She admitted the group was “not prepared” for what they witnessed.

“It was very scary to see the need in the community,” Porter said.

“It was scary to see all the racial comments and the issues that we were faced that day, with and how many people came through the doors so quickly … We are learning as we go and I think it takes an entire community to run something like this.”

Porter is hopeful the community will come through, and people will volunteer to help make the next distribution day a smooth and peaceful one.

Residents can find out more about becoming a volunteer on the non-profit’s website.