Text Size
  • A
  • A
  • A
Share

Teens For Jeans: Local Student Heads Up Donation Effort


For most high schoolers, senior year is enough to keep them busy. Standardized tests, college applications, homework, and friends take up plenty of time. Add to that sports and challenging International Baccalaureate classes and it sounds downright overwhelming. However, Bodine High School’s Destiny Brew still felt that there was more she should be doing.

“I started a jean drive here for homeless teens in the nearby Philadelphia area and shelters,” she explained, as casually as if this were the sort of thing all teenagers do. “I went to the website dosomething.org looking for scholarships, but I found this jean drive.

It said that millions of teens every day are homeless, and one of the number-one things they ask for is jeans. I was like, ‘I have jeans!’ I didn’t know that was something they needed and wanted. So I thought, ‘I’m gonna start it here.’”

There was work to be done before Destiny could even begin collecting jeans, though. “First, I had to get approval from my principal. That was a long process—two weeks right there. Then I had to get an advisor, so I found Ms. Mackay.” English teacher Kelli Mackay is Bodine’s coordinator for I.B. (International Baccalaureate) classes, the rigorous college-prep courses that advanced students such as Destiny are taking.

“I happened to be in the main office one day,” said Kelli, “and there was a package there for Destiny. It doesn’t happen very often that there’s a package for a student. So I gave it to her, and in the package was the banner from dosomething.org to hang up in the hallway. It was then that I found out that she intended to lead the effort for jeans collection here. She just found that project online and decided it would be a good thing to get involved in. She spearheaded the whole thing.”

“After that, I made fliers, and we distributed them around the school,” Destiny continued. “I went to classes and asked people face-to-face if they could bring me jeans. I asked my class because I’m with them all the time, and I asked people outside of my school, at home and on the Internet. People just started bringing jeans in.”

There’s now an impressive pile of pants on display in the hallway at Bodine High. “One hundred and seventy-one pairs,” said Destiny. Kelli added, “We might meet our goal of two hundred—our new goal. Our first goal was one hundred.”

Destiny’s classmates certainly stepped up when she asked them to help out. “They were just like, “Okay, I’ll help you,’” she said. Some needed a bit of encouragement and reminders first, though. “Destiny was a good badger-er,” said Kelli. “Yeah, I was on them all the time,” Destiny concurred, “like, ‘Hey, bring in those jeans, don’t forget,’ texting them early in the morning—5:30—and sometimes at night too.”

“We have a really nice culture of giving here,” explained Kelli, “so usually it doesn’t take too much encouragement.” It’s a fairly small school, with only 575 students, so the student body is close. “Our students are remarkable. They do a lot of special things.” With a few timely reminder texts from Destiny, the jean donations started pouring in.

“Destiny’s been heavily involved in community service throughout her time here,” Kelli said. It was that background in community service that inspired her to take on this project.

“I’ve been involved in BuildOn, a nonprofit organization that helps high school students around the city engage themselves in different service projects,” said Destiny.

“It’s like a family. We all like doing service together, and we all have a common goal to do good. I think that being in BuildOn inspired me to want to do more in my community, and I’m used to it, so when I saw this jean drive I thought, ‘Ooh, this is something I can do—and I want to do it.’”

BuildOn faculty sponsor and math teacher Maeve O’Hara has worked with Destiny for quite some time now. “Destiny has had a lot of heart,” she said, “since her freshman year, in her service work. She has been able to balance her academic, athletic and service commitments in a way that is much more mature than her years
would suggest. She’s continued to do that for the four years that I’ve known her, in a beautiful and brilliant way. Here we are in her senior year, and she not only found this “jeans for teens” opportunity herself, but she took it on as her own project, and it’s worked out so wonderfully.”

Destiny summed up all her work with just one word: “Jeans.” However, those who have worked with her know there’s much more to it than that. “It really is all thanks to her and the work she’s put into it,” Maeve said. “It’s a perfect example of the way that she balances her commitments. I could not be more proud of her; I could not be more pleased with the woman that she’s become; and if she can manage this, in her senior year of high school, while continuing with her athletics and working towards her I.B. diploma, then I can’t even imagine what she’ll be able to accomplish in her future.”

After all of the jeans are collected, Destiny and Kelli will take them to the clothing store Aeropostale, which sponsors this event through dosomething.org, and from there the jeans will be distributed to nearby homeless shelters and families in need. With 171 pairs collected already and more to come, Destiny’s project is certain to make a difference to a lot of teens. “I really thought it was special that she took it upon herself,” Kelli said. “It’s kind of a feel-good moment around here.” Maeve added, “This is one of the most successful projects that I’ve seen at this school, and it’s because Destiny makes it happen when she thinks that there’s a need.”

Destiny’s teachers and mentors couldn’t be more impressed with her work, and they were eager to share it. And while they were reflecting upon her amazing contribution to the community, Destiny was probably already back to sending out texts and grabbing students in the hallway: “Hey, don’t forget to bring in those jeans!”

The Spirit | Hyperlocal done differently
Advertise Now

Related News