The Linen Closet (TLC) is a service ministry associated with Love INC. TLC volunteers maintain a substantial inventory of new and gently used bed, bath, and kitchen linens. When a Love INC client family is in need of linens, a volunteer contacts the family, learns about the family’s needs, gathers the needed items, and delivers them, usually within 24 hours of the contact. Linens are also provided from time to time to Safe Passage, Hope Haven, and the County Home.
Most deliveries to Love INC families include new pillows and mattress pads, new and used comforters or blankets, kitchen towels, and bath towel sets. Shower curtains and bath rugs and fleece or crocheted throws are often requested, and families with young children receive stuffed animals.
The members of First Lutheran and people from throughout the DeKalb/Sycamore area have been generous with their donations of linens, stuffed animals, and cash that is used to buy new pillows and mattress pads and to pay for occasional laundry services. Thrivent Insurance for Lutherans has made The Linen Closet a recipient of annual $1,000 grants, which is used to buy pillows and mattress pads.
So that nothing goes to waste, linens that are “past their prime” are taken to TAILS, an animal shelter that makes good use of every scrap.
