For the last month, donation boxes sat in 33 buildings throughout campus, slowly filling up with new and gently used coats, pants, sweaters, gloves blankets. The items were collected as part of Northern Arizona University’s 21st Annual Warm Clothing Drive, sponsored by the newly merged Staff Advisory Council (SAC). On Monday, the boxes were collected, and the donations sorted and tallied.
At the Flagstaff Mountain campus, more than 1,300 clothing items were donated in addition to more than 700 food items, which will help stock Louie’s Cupboard, NAU’s on-campus food pantry. At the NAU North Valley Campus, 120 clothing items and 53 food items were collected and donated to St. Vincent de Paul of the Valley.
Judith Scholar Winfield, SAC secretary and organizer of this year’s drive, was impressed by the volume.
“The response from across campus has been really amazing,” she said. “And participating in activities like this has been a great way to meet other staff and build all kinds of skills while giving back to the community.”
Clothing donations were divided among five local shelters: Flagstaff Shelter Services, Sunshine Rescue Mission, Hope Cottage, Northland Family Help Center and Sharon Manor.
“I was excited to see how generous and giving NAU is,” said Lauren Rosales, a manager in University Admissions. She was one of more than 25 volunteers from various
departments who helped set out and monitor donation boxes, collect items and sort and bag the clothing and food for distribution. “It is really nice be a part of the process and see staff come together to support our greater community.”