Through Akhuwat Clothes Bank, we give dignity by clothing the needy people in need of work.
In Pakistan, where 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, many people cannot afford to clothe themselves and their families. In contrast to this, many of us living in the West enjoy an overabundance of fast fashion items that lose their appeal within months of purchase. Clothes we don’t want, often end up in landfills, exasperating our global pollution problem. While in the poorest communities, children do not have warm clothes to keep them warm in winter.
To bridge the gap, Akhuwat collects unwanted clothing for reuse. We also accept donations other than clothing, such as linens and other household items.
Our existing network of 800 branches helps identify communities and families in need. We sort, clean, repair and distribute donated items to these people. Our distribution efforts are focused in the poorest areas of Pakistan, including Southern Punjab, Interior Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Baluchistan.
Since Akhuwat launched its Clothes Bank, we’ve distributed 2,7 million items of clothing, and hundreds of thousands of toys, books and other useful items to 2,5 million needy people, all over Pakistan. We collect items throughout the year but also run special collection campaigns during the winter season and following natural disasters, when affected people are in urgent need of clothing.
By donating to the Akhuwat Clothes Bank, you’ll be restoring dignity by helping to clothe some of the world’s poorest people.
The Akhuwat Clothes Bank Gift Shop is really not a shop at all, because we don’t sell anything here. We give everything away! Any person in need can walk into the store, choose suitable items and take them without any payment. Located at our head office, in Township, Lahore, the Akhuwat Gift Shop has been running since 2014. Aside from clothes, we also stock linen and other household items, as well as books and toys – which makes it a big hit with children!
The Akhuwat Gift Shop also provides a solution for the high cost of wedding attire. Every bride or groom needs to look their best on their wedding day, but with wedding clothes being so expensive, financial constraints often prevent this. At the Akhuwat Gift Shop, we have wedding attire that can be used by brides and grooms who cannot afford them. Low-income families are able to borrow wedding clothes, use them for their special day, and then return them, without any charge.
By donating to the Akhuwat Clothes Bank, you’ll be giving unwanted clothes and other useful items a second life in the possession of a person or child who’ll be overjoyed to receive them.