Good Neighbour is taking its free clothing to pop-ups across Calgary

Good Neighbour is closing its downtown location and taking free clothing to communities instead. The group's lease at United Central Church expired in September. Co-founders Alice Lam and Gabriella Wong Ken said the downtown site and its hours limited who could reach them, and clothing sometimes ran out before the day ended.

The group started in 2021 as a pay-what-you-can thrift store. It now also offers legal advice, tutoring and acupuncture. Any organization can host a pop-up by signing up through a Google Form posted on the group's social media. In its first month of testing, Good Neighbour has worked with the Mustard Seed and Carya, and has travelled to a healing lodge in Siksika Nation.

Without a permanent base, the group is working out how to move and store supplies between stops, and it relies on volunteers and community connections to find partners across the city. Lam said the partnerships work: "We do what we're good at and they do what they're good at." Wong Ken said the group hopes to bring winter clothing to neighbourhoods on a semi-consistent basis as the cold arrives.