Greenwood residents in need of clothes went away from the Greenwood Mentoring Group building with piles of new and used garments in their arms Saturday morning.
The Beta Rho Chapter of Omega Psi Alpha Fraternity, sponsored a clothing giveaway at the corner of G and Oak Avenue. President Elmus Stockstill said that helping others is what their fraternity is all about.
“This is another of our mandated programs that we do to give back to our community,” Stockstill said. “You’ve got a good group of male professionals of great principles here just to help those in need.”
Stockstill said the brothers of the fraternity and their wives have been collecting clothing, shoes and other apparel for the drive for the past month.
“We have a lot of clothes and we have more on the way,” Stockstill said. “These are nice clothes for people. Some of the items even have the tag still on them.”
The tables and racks were filled with suits, dressees, shirts, jeans, kids clothes, shoes, hats and several other items. A crowd of people, some who had even waited patiently after arriving early to the giveaway, filled their arms and bags with clothing.
The volunteers of the fraternity kept busy restocking the tables and racks with more clothing as they were taken away.
“There is no limit to how many they can take,” Stockstill said. “We want them to get whatever they need. We aren’t trying to take any of this stuff back with us.”
Stockstill recalled the memory of a teacher who came to him about a student that needed clothing. He said that it was important to him that the fraternity was able to help address the needs of the child.
“A kid shouldn’t have to be distracted by his clothing,” Stockstill said. “He shouldn’t have to worry about what the other kids think of what he wears. Now, he can go to school and just be ready to learn.”
