As children prepare to head back to school, the expense of school supplies and clothes for the new school year can be overwhelming.

For the second year, Clanton First United Methodist Church is hoping to relieve some of the financial burden by giving away clothing and other items, free of charge.

“School supplies are incredibly expensive,” CFUMC Children’s Minister Christi Mitchell said. “By the time you shop for all of the supplies you need, you don’t have a lot of money leftover for clothes—especially if you have more than one child in your family.”

Christ’s Closet is a back-to-school clothing giveaway open to everyone in Chilton County held Aug. 8.

“We have clothing ranging from infant sizes to plus-size adults,” Mitchell said. “It is not just children’s clothing.”

Christ’s Closet will be open to the community from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. in the Activity Center at the church.

Mitchell said between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., individuals will be allowed to select three “complete” outfits (a shirt and pair of pants), but between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. there will be no limit on clothing and shoes that remain.

The concept for Christs Closet originated when Mitchell and fellow CFUMC employees Lynn Best, Elisabeth Smith and Pastor Rob West formed the idea.

“There are a lot of ministries geared toward feeding the hungry, and a lot of people are giving away free school supplies, but there wasn’t a ministry to clothe the poor,” Mitchell said. “Christ’s commands us to help clothe the poor.”

In 2014, the first year for Christ’s Closet, roughly 450 people visited the church to select clothing.

“We were overwhelmed last year,” Mitchell said. “It was really neat to see the response.”

In addition to an overwhelming response from the community selecting the clothes, Mitchell said the church has also had an overwhelming response with donations for Christ’s Closet from individuals throughout the community.

“We have received some really nice clothing to be able to give away,” Mitchell said.

Although the giveaway is timed near the back-to-school period, Mitchell said there are also job interview outfits for adults, and clothing for babies as well.

“We were able to give away clothing for entire families last year, which was wonderful,” Mitchell said.

Individuals involved in the children’s ministry at the church have helped sort the clothing into sections to make an easier shopping experience for Saturday.

“We grouped the clothing into sizes to make it easier for everyone,” Mitchell said. “We have tables marking what size of clothing you can find on that table. Our goal is to help people.”

For more information, contact Mitchell at CFUMC at (205) 755-0490 or children@clantonfumc.org.

The church is located at 207 Eighth St. N. in Clanton.