WILMINGTON — A “pop-up shop” at Wabi Sabi Warehouse near downtown Wilmington is giving away new, designer clothing for low-income victims of Hurricane Florence.
“This is not just some stuff donated from your local Dollar General,” Cedric Harrison said on Thursday morning.
Harrison, founder of Support the Port Foundation, said over 1,500 pounds of designer and high-end brand names — which he estimated at $50,000 in worth — was donated from Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. The club is well known in the American golf community for hosting some of the sport’s most prestigious tournaments, including the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the U.S. Open.
It all began when Harrison set up a hurricane relief center at a church near the low-income Creekwood neighborhood east of downtown. He had noticed the city’s three main distribution centers were located in areas too far for Creekwood’s residents to travel to.
According to Harrison, the center began feeding around 500 people a day during the weeks after Florence struck the city.
“From that work, were able to get people’s information and translate it into a digital database of 500 people who we now keep up with on a daily basis,” Harrison said.
That holiday feeling
Harrison believes Oak Hill discovered his new foundation because of the “microscope that was put on Wilmington after the hurricane” and their desire to give directly to the affected community.
After receiving a shipment of 60 boxes of high-end clothing — brands like Peter Millar, Ralph Lauren, and Puma — Harrison went to work on setting up a retail-like atmosphere far different than traditional clothing giveaway centers.
“We didn’t want to just give it to people,” Harrison said. “We wanted them to have that holiday feeling of going to a retail shop and picking stuff off the hangar that they actually like and want.”
Local stylist Sheree Humphree helped organize the clothing in a way that would give the feel of a fashion store.
“We wanted to make sure it was set up in a way that showed the quality and condition of the items here,” Humphree said after helping a group of women pick out designer jeans. “There are a lot of families still in need and this is a great opportunity to be able to provide for those families.”
Harrison said his group’s case managers go through the foundation’s hurricane database to set up appointments for individuals and families — to guarantee those in most need have “first dibs on everything” before the store opens to the public on Dec. 14.
For Castle Hayne resident Alexandria Adams, the pop-up store provided the opportunity to shop for clothes she had never worn before.
“These are some high-quality clothes, stuff I could never afford,” Adams said.
Next to Adams at the ladies’ pants rack was Kim Hope, who had to evacuate her home in Southport for 10 days after Florence made landfall. She said she is still sleeping on cold cement after her home’s flooring was ruined by floodwaters.
“It’s not often that I get to go buy clothing for myself,” Adams said.
Details and contact info
The pop-up shop is located at 19 N. 9th Street. Through Dec. 14, shoppers will be invited through Support the Port’s network of hurricane victims and through the networks of other nonprofits providing relief for hurricane victims, including United Way, StepUp Wilmington, and LINC.
From Dec. 14 through Christmas Eve, the pop-up shop will be open to the public from noon to 6 p.m.
Harrison said that volunteers are needed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to sort clothes and bust down boxes, and should email info@supporttheport.com to get in touch.
Until Dec. 14, local non-profits that would like to bring clients to Wabi Sabi should also reach Harrison via info@supporttheport.com.
The foundation encourages families and individuals who suffered loss from Hurricane Florence to register on their hurricane database at supportheport.com.
Mark Darrough can be reached at Mark@Localvoicemedia.com
