Windfall

Back in the early '90s, Ina Andre and Joan Clayton drove around Toronto in their cars, picking up donations of new unsold clothing from retailers and manufacturers to people in need.
"We started on my dining room table, on her dining room table, in my basement, and a little in hers,"said Andre, noting that she hit upon the idea after seeing clothing displays being turned around for the change of seasons in a department store.
"And I said. 'I wonder what happens to all the seasonal clothes that are not being used.' "
The organization they founded, called Windfall, (http://www.windfallclothing.ca/) has grown by leaps and bounds and now has an enormous warehouse serving 90 agencies, including shelters for abused women, reception centres for new immigrants and job training programmes.
Last year, it processed 265,000 pieces of donated new clothing worth an estimated $10 million.
And now, as the ranks of the unemployed grow due to layoffs in various sectors of the economy, the need is greater than ever.
The women, who had previously launched the food redistribution system Second Harvest, are both in their late 70's, but Windfall executive director Helen Harakas says they still come around to help sometimes.
"They weren't being paid a penny-this is something that they believed so strongly in and they wanted to make a difference in their community." she said.
What wonderful women! I am sure that if we all look we can all make a difference.