Homelessness is a prevalent issue across the nation with over 1.7 million teens included in that category. DoSomething.org is a not-for-profit organization that uses its digital platform to impact the youth of America and incite social change. DoSomething.org collaborated with Aeropostale for a campaign called Teens for Jeans with the goal of reaching out to homeless teens by providing them with free jeans.

The organizations decided on the distribution of jeans because jeans are the most comfortable article of clothing in any season and are very durable after multiple washes. The campaign has existed for several years and has collected over 5 million pairs of jeans according to the organizations’ website. Aeropostale directs the distribution of jeans to homeless teens at local sites.

This is the first year that Central has volunteered to participate in this campaign. The campaign was discovered by one of ROTC’s sophomore Cadets, Jessyca Foster. The ROTC leaders are assisting her in sharing the campaign information and providing a centralized location for the collection of the jeans, as well as handling the delivery. Foster came in contact with the campaign through the organization’s website after a counselor recommended it to her.

“The campaign was eye catching to me because there were things in the description that shocked me,” she explained. “‘Forty percent of homeless people in the United States are under the age of 18.’ That sentence right there stuck out to me. I wanted to help, and I knew it was a campaign that not only I could do, but my peers could do as well.”

Students can drop off jeans in the JROTC armory below the gym. Jeans will be collected until February 27. All jeans will be counted on the 27, as well, and, on the 28, the collection will finally be delivered to Aeropostale outlets.