Lily Faclier - Mitzvah Project

My Clothing Bank Mitzvah

For my bati Mitzvah I decided to collect unwanted shoes from friends,family and my school and donate them to a non profit organisation called The Clothing Bank.

The Clothing Bank has helped over 570 mothers to start their own small businesses from clothing that has been collected from a variety of retailers and charities and distributed from 5 different points around South Africa.

It offers the mothers’ training in how to run their own businesses, and teaches them about finances and life skills.

The Clothing Bank operates on values of sisterhood.

Service

Integrity

Sustainability

Teamwork

Excellence

Respect

I loved the concept of woman uplifting woman and teaching them values of hardwork and self sustainability. There are a total of 3000 family members that benefit from this project and the two woman that started it have won the Women of the Decade award at the Women Economic forum in 2018.

Their business model means that excess clothing that would otherwise end up in landfills goes into actively creating new businesses and jobs for previously disadvantaged mothers.

No other country has a solution that uses their waste in such a positive and empowering way.

Lily Faclier