Francis Tuttle Students Collect Clothes To Help Families For Christmas

Francis Tuttle Technology Center Marketing and Entrepreneurship students created a clothing drive to get clothes to families in need this Christmas season.

“We knew we wanted to do something that would help out the community,” said Mia Oates, of Edmond Memorial High School. 

The students came up with the acronym H.U.G.S.  

“It stands for hats, underwear, gloves, and socks” said Destiny Ngigi, of Deer Creek High School.  

From the acronym, HUGS for the Heart was created. 

“We thought that that would be something that would be really good to give back to the communities especially during these upcoming winter months, where a lot of people are going to need winter clothing,” said Oates. 

The students then came up with a marketing campaign that started with their own schools and expanded into other schools and businesses and included other items.

“We received a lot of jeans; we received a lot of pants. We received over 100 coats, which we are very proud about that,” said Oates. 

With more than 200 pairs of socks, and close to 100 pairs of jeans, and shirts, the students were very excited about their efforts. Now, they had to decide where to donate them. 

“We knew we wanted a nonprofit organization that was going to be more community based. We wanted to see where our donations were going to,” said Oates. 

“They are going to Sharing Tree, which is a nonprofit organization, which all of the donations go to families and people in need,” said Makayla Worley, a student at Putnam City West High School. 

After touring Sharing Tree, the ladies knew it was the place for their donations. 

“Sharing Tree exist to provide people in need with a no cost, dignified shopping experience,” said Lizzy Bozarth, of Sharing Tree.  

“We are setup just like a department store with gently used and new clothing, shoes, household items, and at Christmas time, we provide brand new toys,” said Bozarth. 

Christmas is extremely busy for Sharing Tree.  

“We just served 120 families and we still have 240 families that need to come through and shop with us before Christmas is here,” said Bozarth. 

Though they get lots of donations, the items from the kids are pretty special. 

“That’s crazy. That’s amazing that they’re wanting to get involved so young, and hopefully, that giving spirit will follow them throughout their life,” said Bozarth. 

Bozarth said the donations from youth are really needed, because a lot of their donations are for adults.  

The project helped the students with their organizational and leadership skills. While they all admit it was hard work, the thought of helping families in need made everything worth it.