by Anthony DeMatteo
Staff Writer
Local charity Dignity-U-Wear, which distributes new clothes to more than 60 charities, concluded its annual Undie Sunday & Undie Monday campaign on Monday with a collection day that doubled as a barbecue and celebration.
Visitors came, one after the other, to the Myrtle Avenue charity, eating catered beans and pork sandwiches and dropping off brightly colored bags of new underwear.
Last year, Dignity collected about 73,000 pieces of new underwear, mostly for children, distributing it to charities that clothe Jacksonville’s needy.
Residents of the senior living facility, Taylor Apartments, collected 445 pieces of underwear and about $150 dollars in cash this year, said Deborah Stinson, Taylor’s activities director.
“I’ve been coming ever since they started,” said Taylor resident, Doris Lenoir. ”I love it.”
Lenoir is part of a team of residents who regularly volunteer sorting clothes at Dignity.
Behind a tent where volunteers and Dignity employees soaked up the Monday sun, Stinson stood beside an underwear tree, with multi-colored paper cutouts of underwear marking the donations and room numbers of residents.
It was Taylor resident, Gladys Williams’ first time at Dignity, and she said she’ll be back.
“I’ve enjoyed myself today,” said Williams. “It makes you feel good doing something for somebody else and it’s a lot of fun working at the table.”
Dignity’s Community Outreach and Volunteer Manager Peggy McDonald hugged the seniors as they boarded a bus for home, some heading to Shands Hospital to give patients booties and afghans they made.
“It’s great fun, very busy,” said Dignity’s Director of Development, Cindy Sadler.
Sadler spent much of the day making entries on a checklist and lifting heavy bags of underwear tagged with inventory counts and the names of donators, into one of two trailers outside Dignity.
Sadler said underwear will continue to come in this week, and an accurate count for this year’s collection is a little more than one week away.
Dignity founder Henri Landwirth credits Sadler for bringing the underwear drive to the charity, modeling it after a program started at a South Carolina church and expanding it.
“We just came out to show our support and try to get as many underwear as we can for them,” said Jacksonville Jam forward Jerry Williams. “It’s a wonderful thing. Any time you can help out unfortunate communities, it’s pretty good.”
The Jam, Jacksonville’s American Basketball Association team, was one of the underwear drive’s sponsors.
Lisa Vesotski, the customer accounting manager at CSX, said her department collected 528 pieces of underwear and about $500.
“We get mostly children’s underwear but that’s what we advertise, but one-on-one, we tell people we need underwear for the young people and for those of more experienced ages,” said Dignity Executive Director Jim Diehl.
AmeriCorps HabiJax volunteers, Sommer Gottke and Cat James, also collected underwear for the drive.
“It’s gone well,” said Gottke. “We’re new to the area and didn’t know much about Dignity-U-Wear, but we do now.”
McDonald said the six-week event is something those working for the charity anticipate.
“This is a fun day,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see so many people coming together to help others in need.”