Mission’s Clothing Giveaway for Kids Draws Thousands

They came by the thousands Tuesday, many braving the night to line up on the streets of skid row in downtown Los Angeles to receive free clothing, shoes, school supplies and a hamburger lunch for their children.

The eighth annual back-to-school giveaway, sponsored by the Fred Jordan Mission, provides homeless and indigent children with new goods. Footlocker donated 6,500 pairs of shoes. Other companies, including the Gap and Walt Disney Co., gave thousands of pairs of jeans, shirts, socks and other clothes.

In addition, In-N-Out treated 10,000 parents and children to lunch.

“Nine years ago, we said we want to clothe 100 children and we couldn’t get enough clothing for 50,” said Willie Jordan, the widow of the mission’s founder. She estimated that the goods and services given away Tuesday represented about $1 million in merchandise and monetary donations.

Last year, the mission ran out of shoes, forcing volunteers to turn families away, including some who had waited all night. Mission workers on Tuesday said that they had improved controls, and that all those who showed up by morning would be served. They handed out wristbands to reduce the number of people trying to cut in line.

Organizers estimated that everyone who showed up for the giveaway had to wait in line for at least six hours before they could get their clothing and food. Among those who gathered was Yvonne Sessions, 27, and her two sons, Daveon, 7, and Lazell-e, 2. Sessions, who lives in a downtown hotel, said she and her boys got in line Monday night at 8.

“It was cold,” she said. “I’ve never slept on the streets before.”

Bundled up in oversized coats, the boys were escorted through a gate to the mission. Daveon held his little brother’s hand as they had their waists measured and were given balloons by mission volunteers. As a woman handed the boys a yellow bag filled with school supplies, Daveon yelled, “I got a new folder!”