Career Closet seeking donations during reunion

Sydney Robinson has a request for those attending Reunion Weekend June 22-24.

Her request? Donate new or gently used women’s clothing to Bennie Career Closet during Reunion Weekend.

Bennie Career Closet will be accepting professional clothing and accessories (shoes, scarves, jewelry, etc.) at two times during Reunion – from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, June 22, near the check-in desk at Gorecki Center, College of Saint Benedict, and from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, June 23, at the Career Closet, room 4, Murray Hall. The second session doubles as an open house for the Career Closet, which opened Nov. 1, 2017.

Career Closet provides professional, high-grade clothing to CSB students who are in need of clothing and accessories for job fairs, job interviews, internships and/or fulltime jobs.

“It feels like a retail job,” said Robinson, a senior English major (creative writing concentration) from Las Vegas, of managing Career Closet. “But the point of it is seeing people get so elated when they come in. It doesn’t feel like a dusty closet or going to the basement. It looks and feels like a boutique, and that’s what we wanted it to be.”

Robinson said winter clothing and coats are particularly needed. Accessories and a range of sizes (particularly sizes 0, 10 and Plus Sizes) are also in demand. Clothing should not be soiled, stained or ripped.

Money orders, checks and gift cards will also be accepted, Robinson said.

The closet was created when students from underrepresented backgrounds reported that they did not attend career fairs or internship and job interviews “because they didn’t have the appropriate clothes, or they just didn’t have the clothes in general,” Robinson said.

“You get judged the first thing you see when you walk in, because you can never make a first impression again,” Robinson said. “So, the need was there.”