Frederiksen Court collected 600 T-shirts and delivered 300 each to the Ames Emergency Residence Project and Youth and Shelter Services.

“It’s just kind of a cool idea, and I know I have way more T-shirts than I could ever use and I know there are people that would be able to use them better than I could,” said Renee Rathjen, senior in mechanical engineering, who organized the T-shirt drive.

The drive began the week after Spring Break. Students were asked to bring any extra T-shirts they had that they wished to donate. Some students brought their donations to the Frederiksen Court head office. Community advisors and Frederiksen Court Council members also knocked on doors asking for any unused shirts.

Rathjen said bingo events at Frederiksen Court are very popular, so on one of the nights people were asked to bring a shirt if they wanted to play. Rathjen said they got many shirts from the bingo event.

“I think it’s nice to see so many people donating to a cause like this,” Rathjen said.

Merry Rankin, director of sustainability at Iowa State, helped direct the Frederiksen Court Community Council to places the shirts that they collected would be useful.

“I think it’s really wonderful for people to be able to see the need and to be able to act on that and recognize the fact that we only can use so much of the things we might accumulate,” Rankin said.

Rankin said a lot of students get T-shirts from the different activities they are involved in, but many people don’t wear all of their shirts. If people can donate what they aren’t using to someone in need, it is a real win-win Rankin said.

“It’s a nicer alternative than just throwing shirts out or not getting them used,” Rathjen said.

Rathjen said what made her happiest during the T-shirt drive was when people who donated carried multiple shirts in their arms when they went to the Frederiksen Court office.

“It was nice to see that some people just came out with stacks of shirts and were like, ‘Here I don’t need any of these,’” Rathjen said.

Rankin said she gives a lot of credit to the students who she said are very thoughtful in looking at how to make a difference from something that would otherwise be a waste item.

“I just think it’s a wonderful project and wonderful collaboration and consideration of our community as a whole,” Rankin said.