Orange County Branch Newsletter
May 2022
ASCE OC Community Service
Clothes The Deal with YMF: Professional Clothing Drive
By Danny Mejia, PE | Community Service Committee Member
Like many other industries, engineers saw a drastic change in their daily lives as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of us left our offices and began working almost exclusively from home, and have continued to do so till this day. One day, I had the realization that, like myself, many other Engineers must not be using their daily professional clothing as much as before. The business casual and formal attire we once relied on was now collecting dust in our closets. I did some research and found a non-profit organization called Clothes The Deal that provides free professional clothing and other services to low-income men, women, at-risk youth, and U.S. Veterans. The economic turmoil created by the pandemic made their services all that more critical for our local communities. I realized that this was a great opportunity for us, engineers, to donate our now seldom used professional clothing and help those in need.
We decided to partner with Clothes The Deal and hold a professional clothing drive during the 2022 ASCE OC Branch Awards Dinner. We promoted our clothing drive as best as we could and were optimistic leading up to the event, but nothing could have prepared us for what was to come. To our pleasant surprise, we received almost 400 individual donations during our clothing drive including suits, coats, shirts, blouses, dresses, shoes, sweaters, accessories, and more! We were blown away by the generosity of our fellow Engineers and supporters of ASCE OC. We would like to thank everyone that donated and helped spread the word about our clothing drive. You helped us make a real difference in our community.
About the Author:
Danny Mejia is a Civil Engineer in Orange County CA who works in the Water/Wastewater Treatment Design industry. He enjoys giving back to the community, helping others, and protecting the environment through his work and by volunteering.
Advertisement:
Related Groups/Committees
Sponsors
