Local teens are donating jeans for a very worthy cause

Marlborough - The local Boys and Girls Club are teaming up with the national nonprofit campaign “Jeans for Teens” to support the eff ort to give jeans to homeless to teenagers.

Leading the local eff ort is Wendy Hyland, Director Administrator for the Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest. Hyland said that a local “Jeans for Teens” campaign seemed like an aff ordable way for area teens to become involved.

Finding the “Jeans for Teens” movement on www. dosomething.org, Hyalnd explained that the goal of the campaign, which runs until Feb. 14, is to collect gently used jeans from local residents. The collected jeans will then be distributed to homeless teens across the country.

“One out of every three homeless people are teens – isn’t that a crazy number,” Hyland said. “I have three teenage children of my own and I am surrounded by teens at work. That number really hit home and got me motivated.”

Jumping on board with the idea, teens at both of the Hudson and Marlborough Boys & Girls Clubs have set up jean collection boxes at the clubs as well as at local schools. Students have also posted information about the “Jeans for Teens” clothing drive on their Facebook pages, encouraging others to check out the website.

Part of the commitment of the club, Hyland said, is to encourage the kids to find ways to help the community or the nation. With her own children already having experienced friends and classmates running away or being kicked out of their homes, “Jeans for Teens” was a way to help out their friends and classmates who are struggling.

“They have really gotten into it,” Hyland said. “In the week before Christmas we collected 50 pairs of jeans.”

After reading startling statistics about homeless teens, Hyland said it was not hard to want to do something. There are 1.7 million homeless teens in the U.S., and Canada, Hyland explained, and only 150,000 are from Canada.

“One third of all homeless people are teens. It is shocking to read the statistics of just how many children between the ages of 10 and 13 run away from home to get away from abuse.” Hyland said. “It is very sad. How can you not want to help.”

Asking for jeans of any size, Hyland, who hopes to collect 250 pair, asks that people wash and fold jeans before dropping them at one of the collection sites.

“It is simple, all you have to do is clean out your closet,” Hyland said. “It really is an easy way to give to kids who really need our help.”

Supporting the national campaign, now in its third year, is the clothing store Aeropostale, which is doing its part by delivering the jeans to homeless shelters across the country.

Aeropostale is further encouraging people to let go of a dusty old pair of jeans at the bottom of the closet by presenting to people who donate a coupon worth 25 percent off a new pair of jeans.

For more information on the “Jeans for Teens” program, contact Wendy Hyland at (508) 485-4912, or drop jeans by one of the clubhouses, which are located on Pleasant Street in Marlborough and Church Street in Hudson.