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A pile of donations collected at Orem Junior High School is shown in an undated photo.

Courtesy Orem Junior High School

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This undated photo shows the 2023 community swap event at Mountain View High School in Orem.

Courtesy Mountain View High School

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This undated photo shows a pile of donations collected at Cherry Hill Elementary School in Orem to be distributed at upcoming community swap events.

Courtesy Cherry Hill Elementary School

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With the colder months starting to settle in and holidays quickly approaching, community members in Orem are coming together to ensure families have the essentials to navigate the season.

Outreach teams in the Orem cluster of schools in the Alpine School District are collecting donations to be distributed to people and families in need at two community swap events in November.

Items being sought include gently used clothing and toys, and small household items.

Ej Cáceres, community outreach coordinator at Cherry Hill Elementary School, says the community swap events are part of the district outreach team’s effort to support families during the holiday season.

Last year, Mountain View High School did its own clothing drive and community swap ahead of the holidays. With the success of that event, according to Cáceres, community outreach leaders wanted to open it up to allow more Orem citizens to have access to needed items.

This year, donations can be dropped off at Mountain View, Timpanogos and Orem high schools; Orem and Lakeridge junior high schools; and Cherry Hill, Westmore and Bonneville elementary schools.

“We’re trying to collaborate more as schools here in the Orem cluster, and that way we can support our families here in our district and in our schools by collaborating and having larger events and pooling our resources,” Cáceres said.

Diego de Leon, community outreach liaison at Mountain View High School, said after gathering donations for roughly two months, around 400 families were able to receive warm, clean clothes for free, along with other essential items.

“It was kind of just a community-building event that was really successful last year, and we’re excited to have it again this year,” de Leon said.

Donation drop-offs began late last month and will be collected until Nov. 1.

“We have a good amount of donations so far. … We’re excited,” said Cáceres, who anticipates assisting upward of 800 people per event this year.

However, she noted more items like coats, hats, gloves, scarves and shoes are still needed, as many students lack appropriate clothing for the colder months.

With concerns over inflation and rising housing costs, Cáceres says this community swap looks to provide relief for low-income families currently feeling the financial pinch.

“Families aren’t able to provide as much as they would like for their students or their children, and so this is to help (people) that are in need of additional support so that their kids have adequate clothing, adequate household items,” Cáceres said.

The first community swap event will take place at Lakeridge Junior High on Nov. 11, with the second happening Nov. 15 at Orem Junior High from 6-8 p.m.

Families will receive a large garbage bag to fill with items they need, and they can still donate items at that time if they have them.

“Hopefully we’re going to see a big turnout again this year, and that will be able to help a lot of families who are new to the country or in need of clothing to be able to get some things for their students or just family members,” de Leon said.