Young Republicans held a Salvation Army clothing drive on Monday, Nov. 13 through Monday, Nov. 20. They collect gently used clothing and accessories, such as hats, in green bins located in various hallways around the school. The clothes will be sold at thrift stores throughout the St. Louis Area to provide an alternative to high retail prices. The proceeds from the sale of products at the thrift stores will help fund Salvation Army’s mission of helping the homeless and others in need.

“The Salvation Army is always on call, providing services of all kinds to the St. Louis area. For more than 129 years,” states the Salvation Army Website. “The Salvation Army has been doing the most good in Missouri and Southern Illinois, providing housing, homeless services, food pantry support, youth programming, senior services, adult rehabilitation and more.”

Young Republicans is a group of people with similar political opinions who meet to discuss political issues. Their shared political view allows them to find creative ways to help local politicians, first responders, veterans and other members of the government. Their primary focus is on finding ways they can have a positive impact on our local community.

“We try to have a positive impact on our school and local community,” said sponsor William Crow.

The Young Republicans focus their energy on local charity work. They find comfort in knowing that local work directly affects our community. They also like that all proceeds will go to a local charity. This helps people’s generous donations go further and help more people.

“You know it’s helping people in our community,” said Crow. “When you donate to large organizations, it hard to know how much of your effort goes to the community. A lot of your effort has to go to funding, the overhead of large national organizations.”

Much thought went into the decision of which charity to collaborate with, Salvation Army was their charity of choice because of the convenience of the thrift shops. The club reached this decision by determining what charities are receiving the most publicity. They chose a charity that isn’t being currently being as publicized. They felt it was important to support an organization that helped the needy and provided warm clothing before winter approaches.

“We’ll do a clothing drive, because it’s getting to be winter time,” said Crow. “The kids thought that the Salvation Army would be good choice, because they have so many thrift stores.”

This club has participated in other charities such as Adopt a Family. Like all good political movements, they start local and inspire others to do the same. Over time giving and caring for local communities builds and creates a national impact. Focusing on the local community helps clubs like Young Republicans have a big impact in their immediate area. They plan on taking on more charities in the near future.

“We are talking about doing a food drive in the spring to help refill the local food pantries,” said Crow.