Evidence of Increasing Poverty in Westchester County
Marlon, who took the initiative to collect used clothing for the Sharing Shelf
The Sharing Shelf, the nonprofit clothing bank serving children and teens in need in Westchester County, announced today that requests for clothing grew 37.5% in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period last year. The Sharing Shelf received 1,572 requests in the first three months of 2025, compared to 1,143 requests in that period of 2024.
As a result, the need for volunteers on whom The Sharing Shelf depends to fill those requests, also grew in that period. In the first quarter of 2025, The Sharing Shelf had to fill 1,071 individual volunteer slots, compared to 523 individual volunteer slots in the first quarter of 2024.
“We’re seeing an extraordinary growth in requests for clothing in 2025 that should send alarm bells ringing about increased poverty in Westchester,” said Deborah Blatt, Founder and Executive Director of The Sharing Shelf. “Poverty is typically gauged by census data, but there’s a significant lag time to that. What we’re witnessing is evidence of growing clothing insecurity in real time.”
Requests to The Sharing Shelf for clothing for children and teens came in 2024 from 588 staff members at 161 community partner agencies across Westchester, demonstrating the breadth of need across the county. Those children and teens live in every community in Westchester.
In 2024, The Sharing Shelf provided clothing to 6,764 children and teens – an increase of 23% from 2023. While Westchester is among the nation’s wealthiest counties, its poverty rate for children under five was 11.1% in 2023, according to Westchester Children’s Association. More than 67,000 children and teens live in poverty or a low-income home in Westchester.
For information on how to donate clothing, visit https://sharingshelf.org/get-involved/#donate-clothing.
Shoutout to Marlon for his incredible dedication! 
Earlier this year, after organizing a clothing drive for The Sharing Shelf as part of his Bar Mitzvah project, he visited our Clothing Bank and overheard volunteers discussing a 12-year-old boy in need of clothing. That moment stuck with him and inspired him to do even more.
Marlon took action, launching a new clothing drive and collecting an incredible 30 bags of clothing and sneakers! Not only that—he personally sorted everything, making sure the clothes met our standards and setting aside stained items for our textile recycling bins. 
Marlon’s passion for helping others is inspiring, and he hopes to volunteer with us as soon as he’s old enough. We can’t wait to have him on board!
