Paso teens collect hundreds of jeans for charity
Paso Robles High School freshman Lily Seebart and her fellow Jeans for Teens committee members and Leadership students — Alec Kleinman, Lauren Hocker, and Brielynn Elliott — collected carloads of jeans and other apparel at the high school as well as Flamson and Lewis middle schools to donate to needy teens throughout San Luis Obispo County. Courtesy photo
Leadership students organize donations of jeans and other apparel as part of an annual nationwide charity drive
Thanks to the contributions of a dedicated committee and students throughout Paso Robles, hundreds of needy teens in San Luis Obispo County are benefiting from donations of jeans and other apparel.
When Lily Seebart, a freshman at Paso Robles High School, brought up the idea of hosting a Jeans for Teens apparel drive to Leadership Advisor Jennifer Bedrosian, she was met with enthusiasm and support. Before the charity drive could be approved, however, it had to pass the scrutiny of Seebart’s fellow Leadership peers.
Paso Robles High School students Alec Kleinman, Lauren Hocker, Lily Seebart, and Brielynn Elliott (pictured from left to right) formed a Jeans for Teens committee (known nationwide as Teens for Jeans) and collected hundreds of pairs of jeans and other apparel for needy teens throughout San Luis Obispo County. Courtesy photo
“They really liked that it was a community outreach event, that it would be led by students,” said Seebart, “and also that it would benefit teens in need right here in our county.”
Once she gained approval, Seebart formed a committee and served as co-chair with sophomore Lauren Hocker, 16, and members Alec Kleinman, 16, a sophomore at PRHS, and senior Brielynn Elliott, 18.
Collections exceed expectations
The committee placed collection boxes throughout the campus at PRHS as well as Flamson and Lewis middle schools towards the middle of November 2014. They got the word out by adding information to school bulletins and daily announcements and created posters to display around each school site. Over time, students at the three locations placed their gently used jeans inside the boxes. Seebart and the others collected the items to add to their growing inventory through mid-February 2015.
“Community service is part of our Leadership requirements, but this was so much more,” said Bedrosian. “As a teacher, I just stood by and watched in amazement as Lily, a freshman, took responsibility, motivated others, and ultimately collected literally thousands of dollars worth of jeans and other clothing for those in need.”
In all, a total of 262 pairs of jeans were donated to needy teens around SLO County; 84 pairs of jeans and 41 shirts were collected at Flamson; Lewis students donated 21 pairs of jeans, and the students at PRHS brought in 157 pairs of jeans, four shirts, and even a few pairs of shoes.
Youth volunteers
Prior to starting the drive at Paso High, Seebart had conducted Jeans for Teens when she attended Flamson Middle School. After experiencing speech challenges as a youngster, Seebart’s assigned Speech Pathologist suggested that she check out dosomething.org, reportedly America’s largest organization for youth volunteering opportunities, for ideas and causes to become involved with that would benefit others. That’s when Seebart, now 15, stumbled across Teens for Jeans and found a way to not only help those in need but also an opportunity to speak to and engage with others as a means to overcome her speech challenges.
“The drive on the website is officially called Teens for Jeans, but it is more widely know as Jeans for Teens, said Seebart.”This name tends to make more sense to those donating. It’s a great community outreach opportunity. In addition, there’s a good feeling knowing that you are helping out someone in your own community and knowing that it may make a difference in their lives.”
According to information found at www.dosomething.org, “over a million young people experience homelessness in the U.S. every year. One item they often request? A pair of jeans. Members in over 13,000 schools run gently-used jeans drives and drop the jeans at their local Aéropostale store where employees then deliver the jeans to a nearby charity or homeless shelter. Over the past seven years, Teens for Jeans has collected over 4.3 million pairs of jeans for teens in need.”
The jeans and apparel collected by the PRHS committee were taken to the Aéropostale store in Pismo Beach and employees distributed the items to SLO County homeless shelters.
“Next year we are hoping to take the drive district-wide and have bulletins and posters in all schools and businesses locally,” said Seebart.
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