Jeans for Teens: Rotary Club Makes a Difference

Recently, students at Highland High walking in the middle double doors may have noticed the medium sized cardboard box labeled with “Drop Your Denim Here To Make A Difference.”  These boxes have been put there by Highland’s very own Rotary Club in order to help teenagers in need.  In association with MLK week, at the University of Utah, Rotary Club has started a fundraiser here at Highland in order to pickup denim.  And no Kanye West they don’t want your Yeezy jean jacket, but instead they want lightly used or new jeans for students in need.  Although jeans may seem like an odd request for teenagers in need, Rotary Club adviser Kyle Bracken says that these jeans are badly needed across the board.

“Recently a survey was taken at a number of local homeless shelters that asked what one item could serve the most number of your constituents, what would it be? The answer: jeans,” Bracken said.  “If I was at my last rope and was just trying to survive and could just have a decent pair of pants or two, I think that would go a long way.”

This idea was brought to Highland’s attention through the MLK activism week as a challenge for High Schools to participate.  Highland’s Rotary Club has taken the idea and run with it, continuing the fundraiser long after MLK day passed.  After being placed in the cardboard boxes at Highland, the jeans are taken to a central location where jeans from across the state are collected, where they can be distributed out to people who desperately need them.

So Highland students, if you have an extra pair of jeans that are too small for you, or that you do not wear, help out Rotary Club and those in need by donating them to help those in need by dropping them in the marked boxes across the school.