'Clear your Closet' and help special needs Boy Scouts with what they want most ... opportunity.

DENVER, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ — arc Thrift Stores and The Boy Scouts Special Needs District, Denver Area Council, are holding the 1st annual "Clear Your Closet" clothing drive on Saturday, September 20th. People can donate clothing items at eleven Denver Metro locations between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. arc Thrift will be purchasing the clothing items donated from the scouts and the monies raised will directly benefit scouts with special needs including youth with Autism, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, vision and hearing losses and others.

Fall is a great time to clean out closets and gather any unwanted clothing items. The more clothing collected, the more kids that can be helped. In Denver alone, there are thousands of kids living with physical and mental disabilities. One in every 800 children are born each year with Down Syndrome, three children out of 1,000 have Cerebral Palsy and one out of 150 children are autistic. The "Clear your Closet" clothing drive will help the district provide the opportunity for these kids to go fishing, earn merit badges, participate in the Pinewood Derby and go camping.

Lloyd Lewis, arc Thrift Stores President and CEO and Jeffrie Herrmann, Scout Executive, Denver Area Council, BSA, are excited about the opportunity that this joint venture will provide special needs scouts. "As arc Thrift expands throughout Colorado, so does the need to give back to the community. Having a son with Downs Syndrome, I personally understand how important the funding of programs like special needs scouting is. I hope that the community will come together and help us achieve great things with this program. We look forward to playing an integral role in the expansion of special needs scouting." Lloyd Lewis.

Denver Options is also helping this expansion effort with special needs Boy Scouts. After listening to families and troop leaders, Denver Options designed a charter Boy Scout troop for youth ages 11-18 years to help boys and their families experience scouting. This "Transition Troop Project" is the first of its kind at a national level.

Drop Off Locations …

Mail Location: Sunken Gardens/ West High School – West 11th Ave. & Speer Boulevard

      FirstBank Locations:      Aurora - Smoky Hill & Buckley      Broomfield - Miramonte Blvd. & U.S. Highway 287      Castle Rock - I-25 and Founder's Pkwy.      Centennial - Arapahoe & Yosemite      Lakewood - Wadsworth Blvd. & Hampden Ave.      Parker - Lincoln Ave. & Jordan Rd.      Thornton - 104th & Colorado      Westminster - 94th & Sheridan 

Additional Locations:

Highlands Ranch, LDS Stake Center – West Highlands Ranch Pkwy. & Foothills Canyon Blvd.

Aurora, CP of Colorado – 11th Ave. and Yosemite

About Denver Boy Scouts: Serving 55,000 youth in the Denver metro area, the Denver Boy Scouts offers programs in the following counties: Arapahoe, Adams, Broomfield, Denver, Elbert, Jefferson, Clear Creek, Park and Gilpin and is the premier choice for youth character development.

About arc Thrift: arc Thrift operates 18 thrift stores throughout Colorado and provides funding to arc Chapters, which in turn provide advocacy for people with developmental disabilities. arc Thrift is one of the largest employers of individuals with developmental disabilities in the state of Colorado.

About Denver Options: Denver Options is a non-profit organization that provides flexible, personalized services to help people with intellectual disabilities live active and purposeful lives. The Denver Options staff finds the services and resources people need to achieve optimum health and explore lifelong learning opportunities. Their focus is on individual talents and interests, helping people turn personal goals into everyday reality. They offer wide ranging services that include helping families manage the demands of care giving, navigating funding resources and helping young people with disabilities connect to jobs and other resources.

            Contact   Lori Sutorius Jones                      Phone:  303-678-7102                      Cell:  303-981-2328                      lori@avocetcommunications.com 

SOURCE arc Thrift Stores