Trusted World Receives 375 Bales of Clothing from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Featured Photo: Trusted World volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints break from unloading donations from semi-truck. Photos and video courtesy of Hillary Weber.

GARLAND (July 21) — 37,500 pounds of clothing arrived in Garland today for Trusted World to help clothe people in situational need in North Texas. The clothing donation was the third from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Michael Garrett, CEO and Founder of Trusted World, says today’s donation will clothe 15 – 20,000 people in North Texas. Garrett says he has volunteers from The Church every day of the week and relies heavily on their assistance. The Church donations are the largest from a single entity.

Garrett says the timing of today’s donation is perfect for meeting the back-to-school demand and possible hurricane evacuees.

Trusted World helps people fill urgent clothing needs by partnering with local schools, police, and non-profits. Garrett says they work closely with the FBI, CIA, and Department of Homeland Security throughout the Dallas Metroplex to help aid victims of human trafficking or other abuse. Because of the scope of Trusted World, agents are able to request clothing for men, women, or children based on general size estimates. Because some needs are immediate, Trusted World has also facilitated an instant order request, where an officer can fill out food or clothing needs directly on-site from a police car.

Trusted World services over 515 different agencies out of the Garland building, including the Red Cross and Catholic Charities, United Way, and more.

“We are an Amazon for nonprofits. To give you an example, a school counselor sees a child wear the same clothes every day, not because they want to, but because that is their family situation,” Garrett says. “Instead of a school counselor trying to buy clothes for that child, they can go on our website and order clothing not only for that child but for that child’s entire family. They can have the clothing and food within 48 hours. We do the same thing for police officers and non-profits.”

“If there is a fire in the metroplex, and non-profits can order clothing from Trusted World.”

School counselors in 260 schools can request clothing for students based on age and gender, often serving the entire family. Police officials in 11 departments and FBI agencies can enter a human trafficking raid and have clothing on hand ready to give to victims since their clothing is often held as evidence.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Garrett says the demand for clothing Trusted World fills has doubled while supply has slowed between area bins and volunteers unable to come and help sort.

Trusted World added 220 partners in 2020 and 260 schools, exemplifying the increase in demand in our area. Normally, Trusted World fills school clothing orders for 300-600 a month, but last September in the pandemic, they filled 1600.

The quality of clothing they accept is very high so that the clothing they give offers dignity to its recipient. Each item of clothing receives a QR code and is cataloged. Partnering agencies can access their catalog online and order clothing for those they’re helping.

Typical donations are made on a much smaller scale with collection bins throughout North Texas. The 37,500 lbs. from the Church is a staggering donation,” Garrett says.  According to Trusted World, more than 95 percent of the clothing donated by the Church passes the strict quality and appropriate standards upheld by the organization. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endeavor to follow the Savior’s admonition to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked and visit the sick and those in prison (see Matthew 25:35–36). Millions of people have benefited from temporal and spiritual assistance through its humanitarian and welfare.