Somewhere in the world there is a person who doesn’t like cashmere, but that person probably won’t shop at 140 Coffee Pot Dr., where The Closet Concierge‘s natural-fiber rack benefits Low-Income Student Aid.
“One of our longtime consignors and customers, Liz Menkes, said she would like to do a natural fiber fundraiser,” owner Betsy Klein said. “She had been sourcing and buying up all of these garments with the idea of reselling them at the store, but then she decided she wanted to turn it into a fundraiser instead, for LISA … so 80% of the sales are going to this organization, which benefits [local] families.”
The proceeds from the Naturally Giving fundraiser will go to LISA, providing direct aid to local working-class families to assist with everything from covering school clothes to athletic fees.
“We’re serving approximately 5,730 students total this year,” LISA co-founder and Executive Director Eric Wyles said. “Over 4,400 of them are on the free and reduced lunch rolls, according to the Arizona Department of Education‘s website. We just feel blessed to have the community support that we can keep helping students.”
LISA now serves 11 schools in Sedona and the Verde Valley and two in Prescott Valley — the only public schools it does not serve are Camp Verde Middle School and Camp Verde High School.
“We are working on plans to be able to include them in the LISA schools in the future,” Wyles said. “But I don’t have a timeline yet [because] it depends on how much funding we can raise.”
Also new this school year is Smart Snacks for Students, now running at every LISA elementary school after West Sedona School was the pilot. Classroom teachers get a budget to order curated snacks that meet federal guidelines and state guidelines directly to their classrooms.
“If there are several students in the class room who don’t have snacks because of the family situation, the teachers now have snacks in their desk,” Wyles said. “They can provide those to students who do not have a snack, and we think that’s important.”
The sale runs through Saturday, Sept. 26, and Klein said the store restocks the rack with at least 15 new items weekly so shoppers keep coming back instead of seeing everything at once. As of Aug. 31, the fundraiser had raised $1,031 of its $2,500 goal for LISA. Over 100 pieces of gently used natural fiber clothing such as linen, silk, cotton, cashmere and wool from sizes extra-small to XXL will be available, the selection is mostly geared towards women’s wear but there are a few unisex options.
“The lowest is probably going to be about $22, because they’re all natural fabrics,” Klein said. “Liz did happen to find some really beautiful designer pieces, so the highest-cost item is about $250 — but it is a French-made silk skirt that retails for $1,000. I would say almost everything falls in the $20 to [$50] range.”
For more information about LISA visit azlisa.org or call 928-300-6024.
