OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO “TEENS FOR JEANS” INITIATIVE
Over the past several years, Aéropostale and DoSomething.org have partnered on the “Teens for Jeans” initiative. Together with local communities they have helped collect millions of pairs of jeans to donate to teens in need.
Each year, thanks to a partnership between the Quinte Mall and our local Aéropostale the public is able to donate gently used jeans which are then provided to a local charity. This year the lucky recipient was the Quinte Children’s Foundation.
Quinte Secondary School (QSS) took up the cause and collected 1,655 pairs of jeans for the campaign this year. Nathan Stanzel, a grade 12 student organized the event at QSS, which included donations from four local elementary schools and the Hastings & District School Board. A homeroom challenge was added to help raise the number of jeans collected and it worked! According to Carol Wheatly, a counsellor at QSS, not only was the homeroom challenge a fun event for students, but thanks to the incredible Quinte Saints spirit the school beat its goal of raising 1000 jeans by a whopping 655 pairs!
Nathan and Carol want to say a “HUGE” thank you to Aéropostale and their “Teens for Jeans” campaign. They also want to thank Highland Shores Children’s Aid and the Quinte Children’s Foundation who will distribute the donated jeans to families in need who are working with the Society.
Connie Reid, Executive Director with Quinte Children’s Foundation was very grateful for the generosity shown by the students and members of the community, “When we formed this great partnership we thought we might receive a couple hundred pairs of jeans….to exceed 1,000 pairs is overwhelming. Youth helping youth, you can’t help but love it!”