Nonprofit transforms bookstore into charity closet to raise money for mental health awareness

SHAWNEE, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories in Kansas City, Missouri, and stories offering solutions on crime. Share your story idea with La’Nita.

Seven Stories Bookstore in Shawnee was transformed into a charity closet for the day Saturday, with customers shopping racks of donated clothing to raise money for mental health awareness.

WATCH | Nonprofit transforms bookstore into charity shop to fund mental health awareness

The event, Closet for a Cause, has a goal of raising $500 for NAMI — the National Alliance on Mental Illness — an organization offering free mental health education, support groups and advocacy.

Jillian Harris, secretary of NAMI Northeast Kansas, said the community showed up in a big way.

Brian Luton

"The last eight weeks I have just asked the community to show up and donate items that they are no longer using. And they were so generous. We have a lot of items even with tags still on it," she said.

Seven Stories bookstore allowed NAMI to take over their space for the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month event for the second year in a row.

Harris said the need is especially acute in Wyandotte County.

Brian Luton

"We're just really seeing the needs especially in Wyandotte county," said Harris. "They don't have as many crisis responders, there aren't as many resources there for them, so we're really excited to go in offer what we can and spread the awareness and support."

She says she hopes everyone leaves with more than a new outfit.

"We're all smiling in here right," said Harris. "You're shopping you're in a good but we're also raising awareness and surrounding ourselves with a heavy topic. It just normalizes it which is exactly what it should be."

Supporter and NAMI board member Amber Kuykendall said the event comes at a critical time, as access to mental health services is becoming harder to come by for those facing financial challenges.

Brian Luton

"Unfortunately, I think the current environment is cutting a lot of services and access Medicaid which in turn cuts access to mental health services," said Kuykendall.

Kuykendall said events like this one are about more than raising money — they are about prevention.

"Everybody talks about after horrible, awful things happen, oh mental health, mental health," said Kuykendall. "We are at the stage right now where we have the resources to put out the fires, let's try to prevent those fires before they even start in the first place."

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

—