Medallion Scholars hold clothing drive to help the homeless community

Students from ASU's Medallion Scholarship Program organized a service project to not only help the community, but also reduce waste.

Medallion Scholar and W. P. Carey School of Business undergraduate Ahlias Jones shared how the students developed the idea to organize a clothing drive.

“As many of us lived in the dorms, we knew that students would be cleaning out their rooms in preparation to move out,” he said. “We were concerned with the amount of items that were going to be thrown away, so we thought a clothing drive would be a good service project and a better option for students when cleaning out their closets.”  

Jones and other first-year students decided to expand the project and involve the entire Medallion Scholarship Program student group, while also turning the project into a friendly competition. Within the program, there are 14 mentorship pods. These pods consist of about 10 students who share similar majors or interests and are in different years at ASU. The students who planned the drive thought that keeping track of the pod who donated the most clothing would add a little extra motivation, and it definitely did. The winning pod donated 318.9 pounds of clothes and shoes, and the pod that came in second place donated 291.9 pounds. 

The first-year Medallion Scholars who planned the drive were not expecting to receive as many donations as they did. As a program, they collected 1,912.84 pounds of clothing and shoes to donate to UMOM New Day Centers, a local organization that helps restore hope and rebuilds lives by providing shelter, housing and services for people experiencing homelessness. In groups, the Medallion students create a service activity that will impact the location community during their freshman year. Many of the groups tend to focus on and assist the homeless population, so this donation was an opportunity to take components of those projects and put them into action.

Jones and his fellow student organizers were pleasantly surprised to see donations come in from students of all academic years, not just first-year students who were preparing to move out of the dorms. “It was really cool to see everyone in the Medallion Scholarship Program get so involved in the drive.”    

The Medallion Scholarship Program is the ASU Alumni Association’s signature scholarship initiative. More than a financial award, it is a comprehensive program that recognizes and develops a proud tradition of leadership, scholarship and service.

More information about the Medallion Scholarship Program and how to donate to or apply for it.