Thread Up Oxford Newsletter, November 2021
Welcome to the Thread Up Oxford Community!
Thread Up Oxford is a new nonprofit in the Oxford, Ohio area dedicated to reducing textile waste that ends up in a landfill. Since March of 2021, Thread Up Oxford has served the local and regional area in multiple ways. It has taken in, as of this publication, at least 5,000 lbs. of textiles from community member donations. 1,300 lbs. of textiles have been redistributed into the community so that they can be reused, upcycled, or recycled.
Dozens of community members and organizations have received quality clothing, sewing fabrics, and other items like towels and bedding from Thread Up Oxford. Our community activities include educating the public on sustainable textile use to address the problem of textile waste at the source: overconsumption. In order to better fulfill our purpose, mission, and community, we are working toward becoming a fully tax-exempt 501c3 charity and this will be accomplished by mid 2022, with your support!
Thread Up Oxford launches a GoFundMe!
Thread Up Oxford needs your support to continue our good work in the Oxford community and the local region. As a brand new startup nonprofit, we have a lot of costs up front. We have to have the equipment to store and display items for reuse, including our important clothes sharing programs. We need to pay the filing fees for state and federal paperwork to allow us the full benefits of grant funding. We have training fees, programming costs, volunteer treats, online account fees, graphic design fees, marketing costs, and all the other goodies that will keep us going. What does your monetary donation buy for our organization?
$5 - a laundry basket to help with sorting and storage, hot chocolate for an entire sorting crew, or a pack of mission critical sharpies.
$25 - two storage tubs, a pizza or two for thank yous, the startup cost for a much needed website, or the print cost for an educational or outreach publication.
$100 - a heavy duty garment rack, a heavy duty shelving unit, a heavy duty shoe rack, or the remaining State of Ohio filing fees.
$150 - WE WILL MAKE YOU A WREATH - see below
$600 - either paying for one year of our “warehouse” (a 5’x10’ storage unit) or the full federal filing fees for 501c3 status.
$1000 - upgrading our “warehouse” to allow us to process more donations or the purchase of enough storage and display equipment for the current Thread Up Oxford workspace.
$5000 - beater pick up truck or 2 months rent/utilities for Thread Up Oxford’s own clothes sharing retail space
$10000 - our undying gratitude and the good feeling of helping the organization develop and grow for the betterment of the community!
Watch the GoFundMe for updates!
Thread Up Oxford In the Community
We’ve been out and about in the community over the last few months. Our first big initiative was a huge textile recycling drive in April in which we received almost 2700 lbs. of textiles.
We have now done several free shopping/clothes sharing events at the Parkview Arms community in conjunction with the TOPSS mobile pantry and will be doing another one on Thursday, November 4th.
The Oxford Farmers Uptown Market allowed us to take over their Sprouts booth earlier this month and we helped kids upcycle a pillowcase into a fancy trick or treat bag for Halloween
Shana Rosenberg, founder of the Thread Up Oxford, has been making lots of connections in the community and with students at Miami University. She was a guest lecturer for an intro environmental biology class to talk about the dangers of fast fashion and worked in Fall of 2021 with a social impact class team on branding and the GoFundMe campaign. She is planning further outreach to Miami over the course of the next year. Here she is at the Miami University MEGA fair:
Our one big disappointment this year is that the planned Halloween Costume Swap had to be canceled due to the Covid situation in the community in September. This is an event we will definitely hold next year for Halloween 2022!
Thread Up Oxford on Facebook - Join the Group!
Our Facebook group is located here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/threadupoxford and you can search for it using Thread Up Oxford, Ohio . Follow to get on the go information about Thread Up Oxford’s activities and information about sustainable textile use. And feel free to share your own textile related content! We’ve had lots of examples of community members doing amazing things with upcycled and reused textiles.
Working toward sustainable wardrobes:
This great article on Harper’s Bazaar was shared a couple of weeks ago on the Facebook group. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/what-to-wear/a41158/how-to-be-sustainable-fashion/ . “10 simple steps to being more sustainable - If you don't think you have the time or the money to make a difference with your clothing choices, think again”