by Megan Stacey
Darby Anderson with her daughter, Olivia, at her graduation from Western University in 2016.
It’s second nature for Darby Anderson to go through her closet a couple times each year and look for clothing, jewelry, scarves, and purses she’s not going to use.“When I have to put away my summer clothes and bring out the fall, or put away winter clothes and bring out the summer clothes, I always go through…and think ‘ok, is there anything I can donate for the Closet Clean-Out for Mothers with a Heart?’”
Darby’s been a dedicated donor during the Closet Clean-Out Challenge, and just last week she dropped off a bag of items at Roberts & Co. in Ingersoll.
“If it’s something I haven’t used in awhile I’m probably not going to use it. Somebody else might find a treasure in what I bring, and at the end of the day, it helps to raise money for the various services that we provide in Ethiopia,” Darby said.
Like all of us, Darby usually finds a few items that have been moved permanently out of rotation, or unearths a particular purse or scarf that just never looked right.
“I go through them and I just think ‘have I been using this? Am I going to use this?’ Then I go through the things and I might say, you know, I bought this purse but I never even used it. Mothers with a Heart could use it.”
Sure, she could sell those items, but Darby said she knows they're worth more to MWAHFE than the few dollars she could make selling her old things.
“Somebody else might find a treasure in what I bring, and...it helps to raise money for the various services that we provide in Ethiopia.”
And Darby is not just a Closet Clean-Out Challenge success story. Soon she’s going to be playing another role, too. After a few seasons supporting MWAHFE through jewelry and other donations, Darby felt compelled to give back in another way.
“It was just kind of playing on my heart to connect with Shelley and just see if there was any volunteer opportunities,” she recalled. Darby’s slated to join the Promotions Committee in the next few weeks.
For Darby, MWAHFE is a perfect fit. She’s been a longtime sponsor for children in developing countries and female entrepreneurs in Africa.
“I probably started back in my 20s and I’m in my 50s now,” she said. “I just felt that they were the neediest of the needy. We take so much for granted, what we have here.”