Trusted World to receive 335 bales of clothing from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Featured Photo: Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints help to unload clothing for Trusted World. Photo by Jill Taylor. 

GARLAND—335,000 lbs. of clothing will be delivered to Trusted World at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, at 613 Easy Street Garland, Texas 75042. The 335 bales of clothing will be donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This is the second-largest donation Trusted World has ever received, second only to the first donation made by the Church six years ago, where 403 bales were sent from Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.  

“What the Church is allowing us to do is establishing a baseline of clothing, so we are able to keep up with the demand,” says Michael Garrett, CEO and Founder of Trusted World. “We never want to turn away clients due to not enough clothing. This donation has removed that fear for us.”

Trusted World helps relieve situational poverty by working with 370 organizations throughout North Texas to facilitate clothing, food, and hygiene donations in an organized and efficient manner. 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. School counselors in 140 schools and 11 school districts can request clothing for students based on age and gender, often serving the entire family. Police officials in nine 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.

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 a food or clothing need directly on-site from a police car. In addition to victim help, Trusted World has also headed the donation collection during Hurricane Harvey on behalf of the Dallas County VOAD, in addition to other natural disasters.  

“A donation of this size takes a great deal of pressure off for us so we can reach more people,” says Garrett. “Just recently an organization placed 800 orders with us, meaning we clothed over 800 people just last week. There is a great need in our community.”

To put it in perspective the next largest donation comes in at 10,000 lbs. Typical donations are made on a much smaller scale with collection bins throughout North Texas. The 335,000 lbs. from the Church is a staggering donation. 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.

“Most people we help are already in an unfortunate place in life,” says Garrett. “We don’t want to hand them a pair of jeans with holes or shirts with inappropriate images. We appreciate the high quality clothing sent by the Church. ”

The donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is part of its ongoing global effort to address the immediate needs that have been amplified in many communities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are so happy to be able to partner with this organization on the good they do throughout the community,” says Melissa McKneely, Communications Director for the Dallas East Coordinating Council of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “They are a wonderful organization that does a lot of good.”

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 humanitarian and welfare donations. 

“I am absolutely humbled by this donation,” says Garrett. “It restores my faith in mankind.”