Marist Furthers Haitian Relief Efforts: Teens for Jeans

From left to right: Brittany Rojas '10, Iggy Hermann '10, Clinton Ogega '10 and Beatrice Nyantaki '10.

In addition to Marist High School’s Haitian Solidarity Week, which took place during the first week of February, the National Honor Society and Montagne Society collaborated to further Haitian relief efforts.  The idea came from DoSomething.org: the first 100,000 jeans collected will be sent down to Haiti to support homeless teens. Aéropostale, the clothing company, has agreed to match that donation with another 100,000 pairs of brand new jeans. Any size, color, and type of jeans were acceptable as donations – as long as they were in usable condition.

Marist’s “Teens for Jeans” campaign became a school-wide undertaking, February 1-8.  The school successfully collected 353 jeans in one week: freshmen collected 33, sophomores 54, and juniors and seniors with 133 each. A few students took an extra step by making calls and spreading the word, which resulted in some individual’s bringing in 15, 22, and even 30 pairs of jeans at once. On Tuesday February 9th, members of the National Honor Society and Ms. Alice Miesnik, Marist NHS chapter moderator, brought the collected jeans to Aéropostale at Newport Centre Mall in downtown Jersey City. An employee said they were really grateful for the mass donation, remarking that Marist was the first organization in the area to respond to the effort.

Counting Aeropostale’s contribution, Marist High School was able to donate 706 pairs of jeans in one week. A recent report from DoSomething.org states, “On the ground in Haiti, the YMCA Haiti in Port-au-Prince will be distributing the jeans. This means Haitians will get these much-needed clothes, and will be able to take advantage of the YMCA's emergency relief and support services at the pick-up spots.”