If you visit the Closet on Main, you are likely to see the human that the Energizer Bunny was modeled after –Maria Hicks in action. Action is the key word here. We tease that if you look up the word “multi-tasker” in the dictionary, we think you should see a picture of Maria smiling back at you.
You might see her simultaneously answering the phone, attaching price tags to donations, translating English to Spanish and vice versa, pointing customers to the right place to find something and helping a new volunteer get accustomed to the chores.
On the occasional days Maria isn’t at the Closet, she delights in spending time with her family and especially her grandkids. Customers will ask for her when they come in. Maria says the Closet is “a blessed place where visitors can feel at peace and where we all support each other.” She can sense when someone needs some extra attention or just someone to listen. People will open up to her. She believes that stopping to share a conversation with people at a painful time in their lives helps them pass through their painful stage and move on to a better place.
Margo Hudson and her loyal aides were instrumental in bringing the Closet to its current status – a unique showplace for gently-used donated clothing and accessories with all proceeds benefiting Single Mothers Outreach. Maria was hired by Margo to work at her boutique over 30 years ago. Margo shares, “I knew the moment I met Maria, when she answered an ad and came in for an interview, that I had just met a classy woman with impeccable manners.” Margo says she came to understand over the years that Maria is a warm, generous and hard-working person with very high standards. To quote Margo: “Maria is indispensable to the Closet and an angel sent to me.” Maria is an original volunteer – at the Closet on Main for over two years since it opened.
All proceeds from Closet on Main go to helping the families Single Mothers Outreach serves. For more information about our mission and our programs and services, please visit our website at www.singlemotherosutreach.org or call our office at 661-288-0117.