Ann's Choice Organizes Annual Back-to-School Clothing Drive

Residents at the active adult community had a little help from some little hands working with approximately 1,200 articles of new clothing that they collected from fellow residents during the annual Back to School Kids Clothing Drive.

Friday morning, seniors at the community and local children worked together to sort up and pack up the goods to get them ready for distribution just in time for the new school year.

As in past years, the clothing will go to NGA, Inc., New Clothes for New Tomorrows, a Bucks County chapter of a national organization that provides new clothing to underserved children.  The non-profit organization will distribute the clothing to needy families throughout the region.

Ann’s Choice resident Felisa Owen, who helped develop the project seven years ago said, “There is tremendous satisfaction knowing that these clothes, which are donated from the heart by Ann’s Choice residents, are helping so many children.  There is nothing quite like going back to school in a nice new shirt or pants and the child’s mother or father will also feel good knowing that their kid not only looks good, but feels good as well.”

“We always feel a sense of pride after helping our friends and neighbors no matter what the project is or who we are helping,” said Chris Donati, executive director of Ann’s Choice. “Our continued cooperative efforts with groups like NGA play a significant role in the volunteer work we do and speak volumes as to what we can accomplish as a united community.  One of our missions is to share our gifts to help others whenever and wherever possible, and this is a true example of what Ann’s Choice and Erickson Living communities are all about.”

“This collection drive gives the residents the opportunity to be supportive of our community at large and provide them the chance to help our global family,” said Susan Abtouche, director of philanthropy. “We managed to collect a large amount of clothing for people in need, and the residents and children worked together to create a spirit of teamwork.”

The clothing drive is one of several initiatives fostered by the Ann’s Choice Doing Good Committee to aide NGA in their efforts. During the past two drives, more than 2,300 articles of clothing were collected and to date, about 10,000 items gathered over the past seven years.”

Every Thursday, residents from Ann’s Choice go to the NGA headquarters to help sort and package up items collected and this past spring, residents and staff worked along girl scouts where they got their hands dirty to plant flowers at the NGA building in Warminster Park.

Located in Warminster, NGA, Inc.’s mission is to improve the quality of life for economically disadvantaged individuals in the United States by collecting and distributing to them the NEW gifts of clothes, linens and personal care items. This year marks the 126th anniversary of NGA.