KATY MAGAZINE NEWS
December 11, 2019
By Jennifer Miko
Last Friday, Clothed by Faith hosted “Designer Bag Bingo” at Crosspoint Church in Katy. The exciting fundraiser brought in $22K for the non-profit organization.
About 160 people attended Designer Bag Bingo to help raise funds for Clothed by Faith. This fundraising theme has been growing in popularity and the team at Clothed by Faith knew they needed a great end-of-year event.
The evening featured a buffet dinner, catered by Healthy Gourmet Your Way, 10 rounds of bingo, door prizes, a silent auction and assorted vendors. The excitement built as each bingo number was called, because the prizes included handbags from well-known designers Michael Kors, Dooney & Bourke, Coach, Calvin Klein and more.
One of the biggest attractions of the night though, was a large Louis Vuitton purse, that one lucky guest won from a raffle drawing.
Humble Beginnings
In 2013, Abi Fourie started Clothed by Faith in her garage. In that first year, Fourie and her co-founders Susanne Hewson and Audrey Hosie, served 75 people.
This past August, the organization commemorated serving its 50,000th client, and will end the year having served over 57,000. In 2019, Clothed by Faith served more than 15,000 people across nearly 200 zip codes in the Houston metropolitan area.
Titus Benton, Executive Director of Clothed by Faith, says the organization's mission is “to demonstrate God's love by providing clothing to those in need.” Inventory comes from generous donations from members of the community, and then gets sorted by over 150 volunteers each month.
Clothed by Faith’s primary focus is preparing a week's worth of clothing for clients, as requested via an online system. Each bag is valued around $250. The organization contributes toward items not covered through donations - socks and underwear, school uniforms (cost of bags, staff, etc.), which adds up to about $25 per bag.
Clothed by Faith now has two branches, in Katy and Deer Park, and employs seven staff members.
“When you consider the in-kind gifts in clothing generated by Clothed by Faith since 2013, it is easy to estimate that the organization has provided over $10 million of clothing to the community at a fraction of that cost,” says Benton.
In the new year, Clothed by Faith hopes to serve twenty thousand people across their Katy and Southeast Houston branches. They also plan to ramp up their donation bin operation to increase their inventory of redistributable clothing as well as their income through their textile recycling program.
“We are looking forward to 2020 and increasing our involvement with schools,” says Benton. “Clothed by Faith began with a huge heart for kids, and that remains embedded in our organizational identity."
In February, Clothed by Faith plans to host a golf tournament at Bluejack National Club to raise funds.
For more information about Clothed by Faith, visit their website here.