Clothing Closet gets patients out of uniforms, hospital robes

***image1***The 200th Material Management Center found a way to show its appreciation and provide necessities, everything from underwear to sweat suits, to wounded Soldiers, Airmen and Marines at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

The 21st Theater Support Command unit donated clothes and movies to the LRMC chaplains’ office, as part of the “Clothing Closet,” a program that supplies operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom patients with an extra set of clothes.

Since Soldiers are usually deployed downrange with only one set of civilian clothes, they often need more when they end up in Germany during the winter season, said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Glancey, 200th MMC ammunition manager.

The unit’s Thanksgiving Day clothing and DVD drive, collected 80 clothing items, including 48 pairs of jeans and 11 winter jackets, and 26 DVDs.

Maj. Rachel Coggins, LRMC chaplain, said the concept is a good one and depends on continuous donations and support.

“People ask me so often, ‘What can I do?’ And really that’s a hard question to answer,” Major Coggins said. “The Soldiers do love the clothes, so I always tell people about the Clothes Closet.”

“The (clothes) comes from people, all over the world and all over the United States, who just want to say, ‘We love you, we care about you, we support you, and here’s a way we can show you,’” Major Coggins said.

For the wounded, anything is better than hospital garments and dusty uniforms, and the clothes and support are all appreciated.

“It helps us, as Soldiers, to know that we have people out there who support us in our time of need,” said Staff Sgt. Johnnie Crumley, 80th Division, Detachment 4, an engineering unit from Richmond, Va., is an OEF patient who was wounded in Bagram, Afghanistan.

“It gives me a great feeling to know they’re out there, supporting the military in peacetime and in wartime. It’s a joyous feeling to know that,” he said.

To make a clothes or money donation or to find out what items and sizes are needed, call the LMRC chaplains’ office at 486-8399 or 0631-86-8399.