When babies are born, oftentimes, they are born with very little. Students are blessed with these little people, and it’s important to have food and clothes for them. Clothes keep them comfy and cozy as they grow up and adapt to this new world. Bill Mills, the EAST teacher, and his students sponsored a community service project called “Baby Clothing Donation.”

“We got a donation from Ms. Miller, who is in charge of the business office downstairs. And part of that is that we had been running Wooten’s Helping Hands, which is the oldest school based food pantry in this part of Arkansas,” Mills said. “And so we’ve been doing that for years, and we started expanding that to schools. And so when Ms Miller had about two big bags full of clothing for babies.” 

As teenagers start to get older they tend to do things they aren’t supposed to, some of those things could be having a kid. Having a kid is a big responsibility and most mothers don’t support it, this organization is also designed to help the young mothers in need of any clothes for babies. 

“We discussed whether we were going to take them to the thrift store that my wife’s organization runs Peace at Home, the domestic violence shelter for Washington County,” Mills said. “Or if we were to leave them here, because there are young ladies that either have children here at the school or are expecting, and so that’s the reason why.” 

When coming up with ideas on organizations to carry through it could be rough but one student was able to come up with an idea that would have lots of people interested in. 

Angelina Sigears-Garcia, a sophomore, was one of the main people who had to organize and make a plan on how to proceed with this idea. She has to look at each piece individually and make sure they are in good condition.

“We’re keeping them in the pantry. And sorting the clothes in the pantry, seeing if there is any good or bad clothing,” Garcia said.

Organizing a donation at school can be hard as students don’t always have any baby clothes lying around their house. Also, teenagers usually don’t have jobs yet and just rely on money they are given by their parents, so it’s hard to buy and donate clothes. 

“With block scheduling and only you know, knowing that you’re going to see students twice a week, timing becomes way more important, also in this particular time, I am reluctant to ask for donations for anybody like there’s a lot of families that are struggling, which means that we need to be more open to trying to help out. But I also hate asking.” Mills said.

As kids get older they obviously grow out of their clothes as in onesies, socks, and pajamas. Parents usually find themselves with piles of gently used clothes that can no longer be worn but look brand new. They usually give those clothes and donate it to the families that need it more. 

“It seems like some organization at this school is always asking for money or other things, and that makes me uncomfortable.But in this case, because kids grow out of things so quickly, it seemed a little bit more comfortable to me to do that.”

As new clothes come in they have to check the clothes and have to examine them to see if they are all clean or if they have any stains on them. As it is revised the clothes are washed and gently folded by size. This makes the people who receive the clothes feel good about the clothes they are being donated.

 “We check them and wash them to ensure they are properly inspected and so after that we just put the clothes away into a pile that we know is safe and ready to go,” Garcia said.