This past month, junior Ainsley Vaughn and sophomore Annelise Vaughn an a clothing drive with the goal of supporting a homeless shelter in Connecticut called the Cornerstone Foundation.
The student body came together in support and donated hundreds of items for the homeless shelter in Rockville, Conn. The clothing drive was an opportunity to help others through a friendly competition between the whole school.
The senior class donated over 200 items and won the reward of a dress down day on a date which is to be determined.
The Vaughns decided to have all of the forms compete against each other and the form that donated the most clothing would win a dress down day. The competition was between the whole Upper School, and there were boxes set out for each form. Additionally, there were also collection boxes for the teachers, and non-academic staff at KO.
Ainsley and Annelise said they had past experience running clothing drives and a desire to do so again. “I personally have a love for helping people,” Ainsley said. “I liked the idea of making the clothing drive a competition because I thought it was a good way to get other people involved and we could include everybody at KO.”
The girls said that their past experience stemmed from running clothing drives for the underprivileged in Jamaica.
“In the past we had only done things involving Jamaica because of my Dad, but we chose something more local this time,” Ainsley said. “Now that we were at KO we wanted to use the great community so we reached out to a homeless shelter in Connecticut.”
Dean of Students William Gilyard said that the school was in full support of the clothing drive. “Anytime we can create a space to help others at KO I like to try to say yes to students,” he said. “I want kids to be able to feel like the school will help students make ideas happen.”
The intention behind the clothing drive was to find a way for the community to help others. “The clothing drive is a way for the community to come together and get rid of their clothes in a way that will still benefit others greatly,” Ainsley said.
Mr. Gilyard said he supported the intentions behind the clothing drive.
“We talk about our core values at KO a lot, and I think this exemplified our core value of care beyond oneself,” he said.
The KO community made hundreds of donations and every form participated. In the end, the clothing drive recieved over 630 items of clothing. Ainsley said she considers the clothing drive a great success. However, the winner has yet to be announced.
Ainsley said she was overwhelmed with gratitude. “I am so thankful to everyone,” she said. “ I want to express my thanks to everyone who participated, because I am so thankful of all the donations and support we received.”
