By David Harry
Staff Writer

Sometimes the closest closet may be 900 miles away.
That’s what Joanna Basinger discovered last month when she launched www.ClosestCloset.com.  
Basinger was looking for ways to expand her roots in the local community and her idea morphed into a Web site. She launched the social networking site from her Scarborough home based on the idea of lending and borrowing skills, goods and services.
“I kept hearing myself say I wish there was a way for us all to utilize and depend on each other a little more,” said Basinger, a labor and delivery nurse at Mercy Hospital who is raising five children with her husband, Darren Basinger.
ClosestCloset.com now has more than 70 members throughout the country, and more than 140 fans on its Facebook page.
The premise is simple: Members who can offer 10 goods or skills for use by others are admitted without paying a $10 lifetime membership fee.
The range of skills and materials is wide. Classifieds at the site offer donations or loans of appliances, books, clothing and kitchen items.
Basinger offers to pass on unused coupons from Sunday newspapers, unread paperbacks or to lend out her sewing machine.
Debra Rice, a member from Kingston, Tenn., offers to sew beads onto wedding gowns or liven gatherings with storytelling.
“I love the idea of building a network of people able to share and donate useful things to those who might need them,” Rice said.
Kingston, west of Knoxville, is about 900 miles from Scarborough. While that may make it difficult to drop off or return a borrowed DVD, the idea behind Closest Closet also is to build relationships within individual communities, said Basinger.
Rice agreed, and added she likes the site for the opportunities it creates to improve individual lives.
“What I found when I got there was that the site offers much more – the chance to help and inspire others while truly giving of ourselves,” Rice said.
With no information technology experience, Basigner said the Web site design and launch was challenging.
“We hit every glitch we could hit,” said Basinger of her work at home and with a Web designer to set up the site.
Those glitches also led to revisions of site rules and format as Basinger reduced the membership fee from $25 annually to $10 lifetime. Then the number of postings needed to waive the fee was also reduced from 25 to 10.
Members including Teresa Brake immediately saw the site’s value.
“I know from years of working in the human services field that the best way to help someone feel good about themselves is to encourage them in their ability to give back,” Brake said.
Rice said she saw the long-term potential of Closest Closet as well.
“More than just a ‘one time donation’ of goods or money, such giving has the potential to change lives in the most positive ways,” Rice said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219