A radio program and podcast from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 celebrating those who enact positive changes in the Raleigh community.
00:00 Sophia Magnanini Oak City Move is a podcast on WKNC 88.1 FM HD1
Raleigh, where we highlight people and organizations creating positive
change in the Triangle and beyond. Oak City Move can be heard on air
every Other Monday on 88.1 FM HD1 Raleigh or online at wknc.org Listen
for episodes and more information, go to our blog at blog.wknc.org or
follow us on SoundCloud at wknc8801. Hello, 88.1 WKNC Raleigh. The song
you just heard was Sweaty linen by Surf Ninja 3. I’m Sophia Magnanini,
your host and you’re listening to Oak City Move. Today we are joined by
a very special guest, Meg Carpenter, one of the directors of NOTEIP in
the Pocket. So if you wanted to just kind of explain for listeners who
may not be familiar what NOTEIP in the Pocket is and how did the
organization get its start.
01:00 Meg Carpenter Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much for having me.
So as so said, I am Meg Carpenter. I am our development director. So all
things fundraising and community engagement and all of that good stuff.
But NOTEIP in the Pocket is a local nonprofit that supports children and
their families who are facing clothing insecurity. So our mission is to
provide clothing with dignity and love to children who are homeless and
impoverished. And we also close their families as well. We do that by
working with the social workers at the school systems both in WKNC
county and Durham County. And so they refer students to us. We build a
mini wardrobe which is five tops. Excuse me, ten tops, five bottoms,
brand new socks and underwear and a pair of tennis shoes and a jacket.
01:55 Meg Carpenter And that is all packaged up all nice and neat and
then sent directly to the student so they don’t have to go pick it up at
school. And everyone knows that they’re the kid that’s getting clothes
from NOTEIP in the Pocket. It’s sent directly to their front door. So
that’s that dignity that’s really nice.
02:10 Sophia Magnanini Especially keeping it kind of private. So just
because I know kids will be kids and sometimes you don’t want them to
have to feel even or like they have to hide anything or. Which is really
sweet.
02:23 Meg Carpenter Yeah, absolutely.
02:25 Sophia Magnanini So when did the organization start and how has it
kind of seen it grown and evolved since its founding?
02:32 Meg Carpenter Yeah. Well, this is a super exciting time to have
this conversation because it started 20 years ago. So it started as a
family ministry, a teacher in the Durham county school systems, and she
noticed that her students were not prepared for school in general. They
were coming to school Tired, they were coming to school hungry. And they
were coming to school with clothes that either didn’t fit them, were
dirty, or were ripped or stained or what have you. And so her and her
mom were talking about what they can do to support her students. And
obviously they wanted to do everything to take away all the problems,
but they knew that wouldn’t be feasible. But they knew they could do one
thing.
03:20 Meg Carpenter And so it was around this time of year, so it was
getting colder, and yet her students were still coming in with short
sleeve T shirts and shorts and flip flops. And so they decided to ask
their neighbors and their family friends and go through their own
closets as well as go to bargain stores and get a coat for each student
in the class. So she gets a coat for every single student and she brings
it into the classroom and it’s like the best day ever. They finally have
a coat, they’re feeling warm, and it’s just boosting their confidence.
But the next day, half of those students returned their coats. And it’s
because their parents were concerned about where this coat came from.
Did you take it from someone’s cubby?
04:09 Meg Carpenter You know, if someone gave it to you, no one’s just
going to give you a coat. So now we owe someone something. We can’t
afford to pay them that you have to return this coat. So to ensure that
didn’t happen, her and her mom made these notes and put it in the pocket
of the coat to say, this is a gift. This is for you. You deserve this
coat because you are a human and you deserve to be warm just like
everyone else. This is not something that you had to earn. And it
sparked this movement. So what started with one kindergarten class
turned into the next year, both kindergarten classes in the school and
then the entire school. And now we serve both Durham county and WKNC
county public schools. All of the schools, all the schools and vote
systems.
05:00 Meg Carpenter And so we’ve been doing that now since 2005. So 2013
is when we got our official 501C3. So that’s when we became an official
nonprofit. But we’ve been doing this work for 20 years.
05:13 Sophia Magnanini That’s awesome. And it’s so sweet to hear and
very wholesome that the origin story of it, note in the pocket, did
really come from note in the pockets and also just her want to help her
class. And then now it’s spread and so many different kids are now being
able to get that same help. It’s just really sweet.
05:33 Meg Carpenter And yes. And we still provide a note with Each mini
wardrobe. So not a note in every single pocket of pants or, you know,
whatever, but they still receive a card that says, you are loved from
note in the pocket. So that is still a tradition that we follow with.
05:50 Sophia Magnanini That’s so sweet. And I bet it does just make them
feel a little better, like someone’s looking out for us, someone cares
for my family, for my child, and it just has to be some. Such a nice
relief, a little weight off their shoulders. You were saying it kind of
earlier, but why do you think that access to proper clothing is such a
critical, yet often overlooked need for students and families?
06:13 Meg Carpenter Yeah. So growing up, I was taught that the most
basic needs, the three things that you have to have, are food, clothing,
and shelter. We have so many programs that focus on food, whether
they’re government programs like WIC and snap, or whether there are
other nonprofits in our community that focus on that. We also have
housing programs also that are some that are government funded, others
that are nonprofits that specifically focus on that. And absolutely,
those are two huge things that you need, and those are more immediate
needs than clothing. However, clothing is still in basic need that
everyone has. And we are the only clothing and security nonprofit
focused on children in both WKNC county and Durham County. The reason
this is important is because if you do not have clothing, you are going
to feel very uncomfortable.
07:15 Meg Carpenter And whatever you are wearing or you might not even
have the clothes to go to school. So we have heard stories of children
who are sharing shoes between their siblings, so they take turns going
to school. So that means half of the time a student is missing school
because they don’t have shoes. We hear other students stories of
students getting bullied relentlessly because of the clothes that they
have, whether again, they’re dirty or stained. If you are uncomfortable
in your clothes, I know I get this way where it’s almost like I hyper
fixate on it and I can’t focus on anything that’s in front of me. If my
shoes are too tight, if my sweatshirt or sweater is too tight, or if
it’s itchy, or if I can kind of smell it, whatever it is, that is where
my focus is.
08:05 Meg Carpenter It’s not on work. And for these children, it’s not
on school. So they’re missing those valuable lessons. They feel like
they can’t participate socially because they’re embarrassed or they have
to defend themselves. And so then they become bullies so that no one
will mess with them or they just don’t go to school at all. So all of
those things are continuing Generational poverty. And it’s not setting
up our students for success. So if we can get them a pair of shoes that
fit and feel comfortable, if we can get them clothes that are clean and
are, if we receive enough information like their favorite colors or
cartoon characters, then we’re able to kind of personalize their many
wardrobes to that.
08:48 Meg Carpenter So it’s something they feel confident in and
something that’s their size, something that feels good so that they’re
not focused and distracted by that. They’re focused on their schoolwork
and they feel like they can branch out socially. So what ends up
happening is a lot of families will understandably so, spend their money
on food and housing. Right. Again, those are immediate needs. And so
they’re going to make their children’s clothes last as long as they can,
even if they are damaged. And so we try to fill that gap and make sure
that they don’t even have to worry about making them last longer and
feeling uncomfortable that they can still be confident and comfortable.
09:29 Sophia Magnanini That’s incredible. Especially that you guys are
kind of the only nonprofit clothing foundation in the area. I feel like
clothing, like you were saying, although it might below food and shelter
is still a very important thing that is needed. And like you’re saying,
I feel like especially for kids, some clothing is kind of what you wear
is kind of like an identity. And so like you were saying, if they don’t
feel comfortable in it, then they aren’t kind of feeling comfortable
with themselves and it could lead to all these different things. So it’s
really awesome that you’re helping them, especially like you’re saying
like finding their colors or something. They like, really helping make
it like personal and make sure that they are able to get the most out of
school in general.
10:13 Sophia Magnanini But could you walk us through kind of how the
clothing donations go from like being dropped off to them being provided
to the family?
10:21 Meg Carpenter Yes. So let’s say you dropped off a bag of clothes
that you have gone, you’ve gone through your closet. You’ve said, I
don’t wear this shirt or this pair of pants. I’m going to put it in a
bag. I’m going to drop it off at note in the pocket. So you drive up,
that bag gets put in one of our drop off bins, and then that bin goes to
the back of our building. And this is the same for both WKNC county and
Durham county. And it goes through a process called First Sort. So First
Sort is where we have a lot of volunteers come in and Support us. And
it’s exactly what it sounds like.
11:00 Meg Carpenter So you’re going through those bags of clothes and
you’re picking out any clothes that have stains or rips or holes, any
ones that have logos or religious things that they can’t be worn by a
majority of people. So they go through that process first. Whatever is
left and is in good condition then goes to second sword. Now, those that
don’t make it to second sort, we will do a couple things with them. One,
we have a recycling program and so we will recycle those clothes and we
actually make money off of that. So if they’re not ending up in a
landfill, but they’re being recycled and used in another way. So that’s
great. If we have something that’s super nice, but it’s not either
school appropriate or maybe it has a monogram or something like that, we
will either consign it.
11:55 Meg Carpenter So again, another way for us to make revenue, or we
will work with partner organizations and donate that and then they can
use it to maybe make a pillow or something like that. So no clothes,
unless they are incredibly dirty and like a biohazard, end up in the
trash. They all end up somewhere else. Which is one of the things that I
was just most impressed by when I was in the process of learning about
note. But the clothes that. Excuse me, clothes that make it to second
sort, again, it’s exactly what it sounds like. So we have these bags of
clothes that have been sorted once and now you’re in a smaller room with
desk lights.
12:36 Meg Carpenter So you can look at the clothes directly under the
lights and get a better sense of, oh, actually this one does have a
little stain on it. Or oh, this one does have a tiny lip in it and
that’s going to end up becoming bigger over time. Maybe it’s really
pilled or maybe it’s perfectly fine. Maybe something slipped in that was
supposed to be, you know, gotten rid of during first sort or put in
recycling during first sort, anything like that. So we get another sort.
Then all the clothes that make it through that round go to folding and
then fulfillment. So we have volunteers who are super dedicated and come
every single week to fold clothes.
13:18 Meg Carpenter And they fold them in a very specific way so that
they fill up our fulfillment shelves in a neat and compact way so that
we can put as many clothes on there as possible. And then they’re
labeled too, so that our fulfillment team knows what size they are, what
gender they’re for, if they’re long sleeve or short sleeve, anything
like that. So they End up. And so that’s also another touch point.
Right. It’s another place where they can say, oh, actually there is a
little hole here. Let’s recycle that one. And this is all part of that
dignity piece. So each item of clothing is looked at least three times
before it hits the shelves. So we are only giving children the best of
the best clothes that come in through our facility. So then they’re
folded.
14:08 Meg Carpenter And then we have staff and volunteers who put our
many wardrobes together for each student. So they go down the aisles and
they pick out the clothes. And depending on how much information we have
for the student, we’re able to curate it a little bit more. Otherwise,
we try to keep it pretty basic so that it’s something that anyone would
enjoy and love to wear and feel good.
14:31 Sophia Magnanini Now that’s awesome. Especially how much work.
Because I can only imagine the time that it takes to go through each
one. But just to ensure once again that, like, the dignity that they
have. Clothes that feel new, feel nice, like they won’t get possibly
anyone say something to them at school to make them feel some type of
way, which. And also it’s so awesome that you guys are recycling the
ones you don’t use or helping give it to other things is really awesome.
I feel like there’s a lot of times where people just kind of discard
things, especially clothes, like you’re saying. And like landfills, like
clothing is a big problem. So recycling is just really awesome. And I
love how many people go into it. And it just shows how much everyone
cares.
15:14 Meg Carpenter And our volunteer leaders make first sort where
we’ll have big volunteer groups from corporate partners or religious
groups or student groups. They make it so fun. They put on music. They
will sometimes do little competitions of like, who finds the funniest
things, because sometimes things will slip into the donation bag. So we
have some stuffed animals sometimes or, you know, just funny things like
that. So they just make it really fun for the volunteer groups that come
in. And volunteer groups are one of the most important part of our
operation. We can’t do it without them. So we’re super lucky to not only
have staff that’s super dedicated, but also volunteers.
15:53 Sophia Magnanini Perfect. I know this kind of. I was going to ask
this a little later, but it kind of leads into it. What other roles
besides just the sorting do volunteers help play at the note in the
pocket?
16:04 Meg Carpenter Yeah, so we have lots of volunteers who host
clothing drives for us. That’s super popular this time of year. But we
have volunteers from again, some of our corporate partners and religious
groups and student groups who host, volunteer or excuse me, host
clothing drives on our behalf. So that’s an option. We have second sort
volunteers. So first and second we have folding volunteers and then we
also have fulfillment volunteers. So fulfillment volunteers are trained
to put together those mini wardrobes. So again, there’s thought and
processes that go into putting together these mini wardrobes. It’s not
just a bunch of T shirts and pants that are put together and into one
bag for the student. So we have those opportunities. We have some
volunteer opportunities that are based on events.
16:54 Meg Carpenter So we just had our gala which was super fun and we
had some volunteers help us with that. Whether it was with guiding
people from the parking deck to the event space, opening up the doors,
making sure people knew where things were, things like that. And then
we’ll have our 5 pay and the spring. But we also rely heavily on
volunteers for that and that all those events help us raise money so
that we can put more clothes on the shelves and then provide more
clothing to the children of WKNC and Durham counties. So yeah, there’s
so many ways to get involved. And if you know, you need something that
where you’re sitting down, if you need something where you’re sitting,
standing up, anything like that, we can make that work.
17:36 Sophia Magnanini That’s awesome. Especially, yeah. The multiple
different like roles where it’s like if you volunteer, you don’t have to
be just be doing one specific thing. There’s so many different
opportunities. And also just so nice to hear that they will like put on
these drives on yalls behalf or like help. It’s just like a great
community effort. It’s really nice to see it here.
17:55 Meg Carpenter Yeah.
17:56 Sophia Magnanini Kind of going back to when you’re talking about
schools earlier. Do you partner with schools or other community
organizations and if so, how do these partnerships kind of work and how
do they help Support?
18:08 Meg Carpenter Yeah. So we partner with both the Durham county
public school system and the WKNC county public school system. And we
work with their social workers. So their social workers will identify
students at their schools who need clothes. Sometimes it’s the parents
calling the social workers saying, my child can’t come to school. They
don’t have proper clothing. Sometimes it’s the social worker who’s
identifying the child and we never know the child’s name or race. We
only know their gender, their age and their size. So we don’t know
anything else. And we don’t need to know anything else in order to
clothe a child. We just want to make sure that they get the best quality
clothing that fits them, so they will refer those children to us. We get
just that information. And then we fill orders based on that.
18:58 Meg Carpenter Or, excuse me, we fill clothing requests based on
that. We also work with several nonprofit partners who will also refer
children to us for many wardrobes. So it’s not just the social workers,
but yes, we also partner with a lot of nonprofits in this area. And one
thing I always say is that the tribal nonprofit scene is so special. We
all work together so well because we know that poverty and homelessness
and anything like that need is. It’s so multifunctional and factional.
And so there’s not one size fits all solution.
19:39 Meg Carpenter And so if you have nonprofits that specialize in
different areas, whether it be food, housing, clothing, education, any
sort of support, if we can work together to make sure that the families
that go through those nonprofits are getting the best of the best from
people who wake up thinking about whatever their area is, I think that’s
how we make sure that our community is closed and fed and housed and has
the support that they need for education and things like that. And so we
have just such a special nonprofit community here in the triangle where
we do that and we work together and we make sure that our community is
taken care of.
20:23 Sophia Magnanini That’s awesome. Just especially the communication
between everyone. And like you were saying, just one organization can’t
solve a family’s problems. Like, it is a lot of, like, working together.
And so that’s really nice that you guys are just all kind of to. Just to
help the community that we live in. Do you guys. What are some
challenges that the note in the pocket faces or kind of. Have you
noticed any trends or changes since, like the pandemic or anything of
the sorts?
20:52 Meg Carpenter Yeah, well, so when the pandemic started, we had to
shift completely and we started doing something called pocket pop ups.
And so that is where we will go to a community event. We are invited by
the community or the neighborhood to be there. So it’s not something we
plan, it’s something we’re invited to. And we will set up essentially a
yard sale. But everything is free, so no one has to purchase anything.
And whoever is coming, the families and children that are coming, they
can pick out the clothes themselves and they can take as much as they
need or want. So we started doing that during COVID in order to make
sure clothes were going out. One thing we talked a little bit about
earlier was recycling. And we are noticing a trend with fast fashion in
particular.
21:40 Meg Carpenter And how when we receive fast fashion donations from
people. Sometimes the quality is not good enough. And sometimes you’re
going through it and it’s ripping or it’s pilled really heavily, and so
we can’t pass it on. So I think that’s something. And then, you know, if
they. If they’re not donated to us, then they’re probably thrown away.
Like, then we talked about, you know, that ending up in a landfill. So
that’s, in general, something. A trend that we’ve noticed. And also, I
mean, there, the need for clothes is growing, and so we have a long list
of people who need our help, and we are working as hard as we can to
make sure that we get everyone that support. You know, we always need
more clothes. We always need more hands supporting us and helping us.
22:30 Meg Carpenter And then as the development director, I have to say,
we always need funding. Right? We always need funding to purchase more
clothes, to fill in the gaps of the clothing that we don’t get. So there
are some sizes that just go super fast because they’re super popular.
And a lot of kids that in that age range need those clothes, those
sizes. And so we have to fill in those gaps and make sure that, you
know, we still have our shelves stocked with that. So we’re making those
purchases, and we need funding to do that. We need funding for the staff
to put together those mini wardrobes, our staff to be volunteer groups
to make sure that only the best of the best clothes end up on our
shelves. So I would say, I mean, I think we handle all of it really
beautifully.
23:15 Meg Carpenter And again, we don’t do it just by ourselves. We have
volunteers, we do have donors and funders. And I think that’s something
any nonprofit would say, is that the need is growing with this economic
climate, and we just want to make sure that we are helping as many
people as we can.
23:31 Sophia Magnanini Yeah, like you were saying during the pandemic, I
feel like it’s really hard, especially for other families to reach out.
And then also the need is just kind of growing, and with the fast
fashion and all of that, it’s kind of hard because, yeah, like, the
donations that you’re getting, some of them might not be good enough to
give to other families. So that’s really nice that, yeah, you guys are
kind of overcoming this and, like, working together. But if any
listeners wanted to volunteer or fund or anything, would you want to
kind of tell them how they could do that?
24:05 Meg Carpenter Yes, absolutely. So we are looking for volunteers
both in Durham county and WKNC county for both of our locations. If you
are interested in volunteering, you can go to our website. We have a
link where you can sign up to volunteer. And we have shifts for almost
every single day, Monday through Saturday. So we’re. Yes. We even have
Saturday open for volunteer opportunities, which I think is super cool.
And we have morning and afternoon shifts available, so whatever your
schedule allows. But yeah, I would just say go to our website. And then
we also have a staff port. And so if you have any questions, we have a
director of volunteer engagement. So they’re direct, so any questions
can be directed to them as well.
24:50 Meg Carpenter But we try to make it as easy as possible for not
just individuals, but groups to sign up so that, you know, they’re
excited and they want to come back.
25:00 Sophia Magnanini That’s awesome. Yeah, especially the different
schedule on Saturdays, because it’s like some people might be working
during the week and they want to help out. And so Saturday is the only
option. So that’s really nice. And just helping people work around with
their schedule. It’s awesome. As we kind of come up on the end of our
chat, what is accomplishment or milestone that the organization is most
proud about? I know you just said you guys hit your 20 years, so if
there’s anything else.
25:31 Meg Carpenter I would say having two locations in the Triangle is
something that we are just so proud of, and we just want to make sure
that our community continues to thrive. So the Triangle, again, I’ve
mentioned that it’s special in the nonprofit space, but we have so many
people who maybe live in WKNC county, work in Durham county, or vice
versa. So people are driving all throughout the Triangle every single
day. So the fact that we’re able to clothe children, and maybe not just
the community you live, but the community that you work in and spend a
lot of your time in, I think that’s something that we are super proud
of, and that we’re able to provide that support to communities all
throughout the Triangle when needed.
26:19 Sophia Magnanini That’s awesome. Yeah. Because especially, like
you’re saying, if they travel a lot or even if, like, they don’t, they
will have one that might be closer to them, that it will be much easier
for them to go to if they need anything. And if you could debunk one
misconception about clothing donation programs or poverty, what would it
be?
26:44 Meg Carpenter I love this question. And I would say that poverty
is, like I said earlier, very multifaceted. And a lot of people who are
homeless. Sorry, my phone’s ringing. If I have to re. Answer this. I
would say that a lot of people who are homeless or who are experiencing
home and poverty. They work. They are working all day, every day. They
do have jobs. It’s that those jobs don’t pay enough on top of the fact
that cost of living is rising. So it’s not that our community isn’t
working and giving back, but it’s that things are just really. It’s
hard. And so, yeah, I would say. I would say that. And that everyone
needs these basic needs. And that’s. It’s not a privilege, it’s a right.
And so we try to, again, make sure that we’re providing only the best
quality things.
27:46 Meg Carpenter I think sometimes there’s this idea of, well, you
know, people who are experiencing clothing insecurities, they’ll just be
happy with anything. But that’s not the case. I think we all have
preferences, and it’s okay to have preferences. And so the more we’re
able to lean into those preferences means that the children and their
families who receive our clothing are feeling more confident, and then
they’re more likely to be able to break that generational poverty.
28:13 Sophia Magnanini So, yeah, no, that’s awesome. And also, I totally
agree. I feel like there’s this huge misconception, especially around
maybe the more privileged, where they think poverty is like, oh, you.
You’re just being lazy or something, like, get a job. Or like, we’re.
But it is like, you’re saying they do have jobs, probably multiple in a
lot of cases, and still just aren’t able to provide because of costs.
And so it’s really awesome that, yeah, you guys are helping and helping
them keep that dignity because it probably is a lot to have to ask other
people for help. And so for you guys making it such a nice thing. Thing.
And like, they don’t have to feel down about asking for this help is
extremely special.
28:58 Meg Carpenter Yeah, I. I feel so honored that I get to be a part
of this organization and push the mission forward. And I think we want
to see clothing insecurity programs all throughout the nation. And so
giving us an opportunity to talk to you today to tell us our story and
about what we do, that’s a part of it. So thank you for being a partner
in that way and for helping us.
29:21 Sophia Magnanini Of course. Of course. And if you. If there’s
anything else that you want to mention before we end, or if you guys
wanted to shout out Instagram pages or websites, whatever.
29:33 Meg Carpenter Yeah. So you can visit our
website@noteinthepocket.org and then let me make sure I get our
Instagram handles correctly. And our Instagram handle is Just note in
the pocket. So super easy. And I believe it’s the same for Facebook and
Threads or Twitter or whatever it’s called now and then. I just want to
thank all of our community partners and our corporate partners and the
individuals who come and support us. And I also want to extend an
invitation to anyone who hasn’t heard of us to learn more and come and
volunteer and spend some time with us. And, you know, I hope that they
have a great experience and want to get more involved, but we’re just so
grateful to be in this community that works so hard together and to have
people that believe in us and continue to invest in us.
30:25 Meg Carpenter So just thank you and we invite you to learn more.
30:29 Sophia Magnanini That’s awesome. Well, thank you so much for
coming in and chat with me, because what you guys do is so incredibly
important. And how you guys do it also is something that I think a lot
of people should kind of see and understand and kind of take. Take heed
from that to do what you guys are doing, because it’s really awesome and
special.
30:51 Meg Carpenter Thank you so much. Oh, my gosh. Well, thank you for
having us.
30:54 Sophia Magnanini No, yeah, of course. Well, I just want to thank
you all for listening and especially a big thank you for Megan to come
on and talk about everything. NOTEIP in the Pocket is a very special
organization and. And I think you guys should all go check it out.
Volunteer if you want. Come on. Help the community. Thank you all for
listening to Oak City Move once again. I’m your host, Soph Magnanini,
and if you’re interested in listening to this episode again or to past
episodes of the show, you can go to wknc.org podcast and make sure to
tune into our show every other Monday on WKNC 88.1 FM Raleigh. Have a
great day, y’. All.