As cold weather approached Austin this winter, student council members host a clothing drive to collect warm clothing for Austin homeless community members through Mobile Loaves & Fishes.

The drive came together when student body vice president senior Jake Strelitz was volunteering at Mobile Loaves & Fishes over winter break. When stocking up trucks with winter clothes, it was evident there was not enough.

“Everything happened really quickly after that,” Strelitz said. “Student Council started planning the clothing drive on our first day back.”

Mobile Loaves & Fishes is a charity based in Austin that serves the homeless. The truck ministry volunteers seven days a week providing food, clothing and other life sustaining products.

“I chose Mobile Loaves & Fishes because it has always felt super impactful to me,” Strelitz said.

After coming back from winter break, student council quickly worked out how to put everything together. They planned the logistics and started the drive in early January, making sure there was enough time to collect the clothes before winter ended.

Leaders at Mobile Loaves shared that the highest need was for sweatshirts and jeans, and that it would be most helpful if items were presorted and organized for them.

“Our focus was on jeans and sweatshirts because they’re so necessary  in the wintertime,” Strelitz said.

Student council members then planned out the drive, posted on social media and used the announcements, hoping students and staff would participate.

They even turned the drive into a competition between grades and who could bring in the most clothes for the drive, encouraging more students to donate clothes.

At the end of the drive, student council raised 190 pieces of clothing in total: 90 pairs of jeans and 100 sweatshirts. Thanks to student council for hosting the drive and to all the students and staff who donated it, someone in Austin will be warmer this winter.