Donald Loomis Clothing Bank celebrates 30 years of keeping Buckley fashionable

Join the nonprofit this Friday, Jan. 31, for a fundraiser and fashion show.

When the Donald Loomis Memorial Clothing Bank celebrated its first year in operation in 1996, only a few dozen people had walked out its doors with donated clothing.

Three decades later, the nonprofit helps hundreds of people dress for any occasion every year, and wants to celebrate both its success and the community’s unwavering support with a fundraiser and fashion show this Friday, Jan. 31.

“I’m so proud of all my volunteers and my community,” Sheila Smith, founder and director of the clothing bank, said in a recent interview. “It promotes… faith in humanity, don’t you think?”

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Donald Loomis was a lifelong local who was known for his work as a volunteer firefighter, employment at the Rainier School, and his service with the local Eagles club, among other things.

According to Smith, he instilled in her the importance of community service — so when Loomis died in 1993, Smith decided to start her own local clothing bank, using some of her limited experience as a volunteer at a Federal Way organization as a jumping-off point.

Running the clothing bank hasn’t always been easy, especially because its operations have had to move multiple times over the years. It started off at the Wickersham School of Discovery with the aid of the White River School District (where, it so happens, Loomis was a student way back when), but it had to move into the downtown Buckley Salon 790 when the district reclaimed its space a few years later.

In the early 2000s, it moved again to the Glacier Middle School’s empty auto shop space, but when the district constructed a new building, the clothing bank had to relocate for a fourth time in 2018 — back to the Wickersham campus.

But even with these sorts of ups and downs, many volunteers have stayed with the Donald Loomis Memorial Clothing Bank for years; being honored at the upcoming event for 25 years of service will be Julia Wentz and Donna Luchs.

“It all started over a bowl of candy,” Luchs said in a recent interview while folding some clothes; roughly 25 years ago, said confectionery container led her to Smith’s table at a street fair, where she was persuaded to sign up as a volunteer. “I went in the next Wednesday, and was coming in the next Wednesday for [25] years.”

Luchs now also volunteers with her daughter.

“It’s fun work, and I know we’re doing good things for the community,” she continued. “Everybody should volunteer here.”

The Donald Loomis Memorial Clothing Bank’s offerings have expanded over the years, but the most recent development is prom wear for students needing dresses, suits, or even tuxedos for formal dances.

According to volunteer Alexa Smith (not related to the founder), a statewide nonprofit that helped low-income students dress for these events folded during the pandemic, so she decided to start collecting the attire for local students herself.

This coming prom season will be the third that the Donald Loomis Memorial Clothing Bank has participated in.

According to Alexa, only a handful of local students took advantage of the new formal wear options that first prom season. But after advertising the clothing bank off the Plateau, students started coming in from all over — Bonney Lake, Sumner, Tacoma, and even Aberdeen.

As a former Nordstrom special occasion manager, Alexa said that she was acutely aware of how many families were unable to afford the formal clothes expected at these dances.

“It’s expensive, and the amount of kids who can’t go — they can afford the ticket but they can’t afford the rest… that sucks,” she said. Alexa credited her mother, and the fact that she could share clothes with her best friend, as the reason why she always had access to dresses, “and I want anyone else to be able to figure it out, too.”

You may see some of the clothing bank’s fancy dress on display this Friday during its fundraiser and fashion show this Friday, Jan. 31, at the Five2Five Wedding and Event Venue from 7 to 9 p.m.

Tickets are $35 each. The event includes a pasta dinner (red sauce or white sauce, with meatballs or chicken), auction, and a dessert dash.

For more information about the event, or to purchase tickets, head to the Donald Loomis Memorial Clothing Bank Facebook event page.

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