Sidewalk Pop-Up Store Offers Free Clothes To The Homeless
Cape Town-based advertising agency M&C Saatchi Abel and the local Haven Night Shelter Welfare Organisation have joined forces to create a pop-up street store that offers free donated clothes to the homeless.
The Street Store consists of a series of multifunctional cardboard posters that turn an ordinary sidewalk or fence into a shop display. Some of the posters have a hole in them, that allow people to use them as cloth hangers. The project asks citizens to donate clothes and shoes they don’t wear and leave them ‘in’ the shop so the homeless can pick them up.
Homeless people usually receive a box with clothing of their size, but they’re not able to choose the garments. The Street Store gives them the opportunity to choose whatever they like to wear. The concept makes it easy to donate and pick up clothes. Volunteers at the spot receive the garments and help the shoppers with wrapping up the just been given clothing.
The first Street Store was launched in Cape Town, but more cities around the world are likely to follow. The project is open source, so everyone can set up a Street Store in their city. Head over to thestreetstore.org, print the posters and get a store running on a sidewalk in your neighborhood.
