Helene's Closet
Helene's Closet is a mission of the Youth Group to serve with dignity. The closet serves several areas: baby and toddler clothes, teen clothes, toys, books, sports equipment, art supplies and games.
We collect gently used or new baby and toddler clothes sizes Newborn to 5T and distribute to local families. Located in the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, clothing donations may be left inside the flip top black benches at the entrance to Fellowship Hall or in white collection baskets inside the church.
New toys, books, sports equipment, art supplies, games and monetary donations are gratefully accepted for our annual Christmas Shop. For the third consecutive year, our Christmas Shop will be open for a day of shopping on December 6, 2025 where up to 5,000 items will be given gratis to approximately 400 families so that parents and caregivers may have the opportunity to choose Christmas gifts for their children. Our Christmas Shop offers shoppers a selection of gifts, so everyone who shops enjoys the ability to choose exactly what it is their child(ren) is hoping Santa will bring!
Linda Morris, President of the Helene Cody Foundation and Helene’s mother warmly shared, “On behalf of the Helene Cody Foundation, we are pleased to collaborate with the Youth Group to create Helene's Closet! These youth-directed projects fit the mission: to inspire youth to volunteer to better their communities and themselves. Community service was at the very heart of what Helene held most dear. Helene's Closet provides a legacy of that love and service and continues to inspire youth to volunteer.”
"Service is fundamental to Christianity. It's a close second to understanding Jesus loves us, all of us, and service is the fulfillment of that love. The Helene Cody Foundation honors its namesake through continued service, and Cranbury Presbyterian Church's Youth Group is honored that the Foundation believes our service-work is strong enough
to carry Helene's name.” - Michael Lovaglio, Director of Youth Ministries
The Helene Cody Foundation (HCF) and the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury are pleased to announce that the honorific name of Skeet's Closet has been changed to Helene's Closet following a generous financial and mission-driven leader gift in tribute to Helene Cody and her namesake foundation which seeks to inspire teens to volunteer and better their communities and themselves.
Helene's Closet History
The first of Helene’s Closets was founded by Donovan Mavoides as an Eagle Scout project in February 2020 at the request of Pastor Hannah to help meet a community need. Donovan repurposed an unused Sunday school classroom to store and distribute gently-used baby and toddler clothes after learning of a mother seeking help to clothe her baby. The following year, as a Helene Cody Scholar, Donovan expanded the baby clothes closet to include toddler clothing up to 5T, and youth leadership passed from Donovan to Evan Pease and now Cameron Pease. In 2023, three more closets were developed and run by three more Helene Cody Scholars, Owen Barry, Alex Ritchie and Corbin Kasziba respectively to provide toys, teen clothing, and books, games & puzzles.
The youth fundraised over $9,500 towards the target budget of $20,000 for 2024 which is more than double what they fundraised in 2023. On October 29, 2024, the HCF's trustees voted to gift $40,000 in dedicated funding to be distributed evenly over the next four years forging a deeper relationship with the church’s Youth Group ministry based in part on the success of several Helene Cody Scholars working on four closet missions in the church. This generous gift is in addition to a separate investment of $20,000 over a four-year period to fund annual Helene Cody Service-Learning Mission Trips.