California Clothing Recylers awarded "Small Business of the Year"

California Clothing Recyclers Awarded "Small Business of the Year" from the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber.

Many people donate their used clothing to thrift stores but don’t think about where those items eventually end up.  Unfortunately, some clothing finds its way to local landfills, but much of it gets recycled, thanks, to a small niche market of textile recyclers like California Clothing Recyclers.

Marcus and Crystal Gomez, a husband and wife team, founded California Clothing Recyclers in the fall of 1997. Since then California Clothing Recyclers has been a leader of used clothing recycling serving the Sacramento region and Northern California.  Since 1997, California Clothing Recyclers has recycled over 40 million lbs. of clothing in Northern California. Annually they keep close to 3.4 million pounds of clothing out of local landfills.

California Clothing Recyclers began an innovative fundraising program in the fall of 2011, “Cash for Clothes”. Community members can benefit from this fundraiser by holding a clothing drive and collecting clothing, shoes, linens and purses for their schools, sports teams, non-profits and even individuals that want to help each other in times of need.   This is the only program of its kind in Northern California.

In 2012, 27 non-profit organizations and church’s, in addition to several local schools, took advantage of this opportunity, and raised over $ 16,800 in funds collectively throughout the Sacramento region.  Still in its infancy, we are learning what works best for organizations, for example those that can pre-collect for four to six weeks have better results and making this fundraiser as a stand-alone event has proven to be more beneficial.

Many sports teams, and schools have also taken part and the response has been very positive since this involves no selling or buying for members, just collecting, with the added benefit of knowing that you are helping the environment and other people who wouldn’t normally be able to afford quality used clothing.