The Egyptian Clothing Bank...a model of honorable giving
As part of Earth Guards’s coverage of the Green Zone activities at the COP27 climate conference, we were in the booth of the Egyptian Clothing Bank to meet with engineer Manal Saleh, Executive Director, who briefed us on the role of the Clothing Bank and the most important initiatives to He launched it, and how these initiatives work to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in light of Egypt’s Vision 2030.
The Egyptian Clothing Bank’s pavilionin the Green Zone of the climate conference showed glimpses of its most important projects, where engineer Manal briefed us on the most important stages that donations go through, from the sources of donations to the places of reception, and how the social nature of each region is taken into account when distributing clothes. Because the nature of clothing varies depending on geography - and the extent of its care to provide clothing in the appropriate size and take into account the season (summer, winter) when distributing it to ensure maximum benefit.
What is the Egyptian Clothing Bank?
The Egyptian ClothesAn Egyptian charitable, non-profit organization, established approximately 10 years ago, and covering all governorates of Egypt. This is for a basic goal and mission, which is to provide clothing as a development tool for eligible children, students, poor families, and even adults about to enter the labor market, as clothing represents an essential element so that a person can live his life in a normal and appropriate way.
For example, an employee may be rejected for a new job because of his appearance or the type of clothing that does not suit the nature of the work, or a student may be bullied because of his clothing, etc., and here comes the role of the Egyptian Clothing Foundation in collecting clothes from a large number of Sources are in the form of donations, whether from individuals through used clothes or from companies in the form of defective, recalled, or stagnant clothes, or even shipments at the port that have been seized, as the government cooperates with the bank to facilitate all procedures.
The important role of the Clothing Bank
It distributes clothes according to very precise lists, whether those in the Ministry of Solidarity, government universities, or even various institutions that care for humanitarian cases. Work in assembling clothes has gradually transformed the Egyptian Clothing Bank into a recycling institution that does not waste anything, as clothes and fabrics are one of the products that do not have an expiration date, so it is possible to recycle them more than once, and even the smallest pieces of cloth can be re-woven into clothes for a child at Example.
The bank’s role in distributing clothes is not limited - as is usual - to blankets and winter outerwear, but also includes underwear, summer clothes, sleepwear and occasion clothes, due to the bank’s great awareness that poor families need these various types in Her daily life, and not just clothes to keep warm in the winter.
Through the work of the Egyptian Clothing Bank over successive years, it became clear that there are a number of types of clothing that need the bank to carry out complex operational processes on them in order for them to be suitable for use. For example, shoes that are not suitable for distribution can be chopped up and new molds made that are suitable for use as flooring for playgrounds in youth centers in the regions. Poor people, as well as clothes that are not suitable, are also chopped up to be used later as stuffing for blankets and quilts to be distributed in the winter.
Contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The recycling roleof the Egyptian Clothing Bankand its internal policy that adopts the “zero waste” principle, in addition to its role in meeting the clothing needs of those entitled to it, achieves many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), up to 12 A goal, the first of which is certainly “no poverty.” This is because the Foundation provides the needs of poor families, and works to raise the standard of their clothing.
The bank achieves a number of sustainable goals indirectly, including, for example, the fourth goal “quality education,” which provides school clothes for students, and the third goal “good health.” This is by providing anti-bacterial sanitary covers and the needs of newborns, and the eleventh goal is “sustainable societies”, where the bank recycles clothes and fabrics and prevents them from turning into large quantities of waste that are burned or thrown away, which also serves a number of other environmental goals.
The bank is distinguished by its ability to reach the donor to his home, as well as to the recipient to his home, which has enabled it to turn into an awareness tool for sources of donation and recipient destinations, by stimulating donation even of things that the donor may not see as a point in donating, such as swimwear or ties. Neck and other things, as the bank can convert these items into new clothes. The recipient’s awareness role includes guidance on how to use clothes optimally, how to coordinate his clothes, choose colors, etc.
Different recycling projects
The bank receives donations of various types, which are then classified and the appropriate uses are determined. For example, some donations only require washing and wrapping before distributing them, while some clothes are not suitable for use, and are then directed to one of the recycling paths. He has.
He has five different recycling projects, including the Shoddy project, which shreds useless clothes to be transformed into fillings for the covers that he manufactures. He manufactures up to “50 thousand” covers annually from this project. The other project is the Fluff project, which converts Shoes that cannot be distributed into a product that is pressed and children's toys are made from it for distribution during holidays, or making playground floors in youth centers.
On the other hand, donations may include some very valuable items, for example a luxurious antique curtain, then the bank’s fashion design project will detail such pieces in the form of valuable dresses and coats that are sold for an appropriate amount, and then He used this return to purchase items that are not usually donated to the bank, such as underwear, and thus he was able to find an additional source of financing that would help him achieve his goals.
The Egyptian Clothing Bank represents one of the bright spots for institutions that work to serve society on the one hand, and preserve the environment on the other hand, thus achieving many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
