Student Collecting “Dress for Success” Clothing for Community Job-Seekers
Contact: George Manlove at 581-3756
ORONO – A University of Maine student has undertaken a “Dress for Success” clothing drive this month as a community service project and an effort to help students from the Penobscot Job Corps Center in Bangor get proper attire for jobs and job interviews.
“The basic idea for this is there are students who are trying very hard to enter the job market and they may not have the resources,” says Jessica Richards, a fourth-year journalism major from Orrington and the incoming community service chair of the UMaine student chapter of the American Marketing Association.
Richards has a cardboard collection box in the atrium of the D.P. Corbett Business Building, but adds she will arrange to pick up clothing, if people contact her by email (jessica.richards@umit.maine.edu).
She is looking for clothing, clean and in good condition, which would be suitable for people to wear for job interviews or in the workplace. Collared shirts, blazers, trousers, skirts, neckties, belts or suits are among the items she hopes to collect and donate.
“It’s for all different students,” she says, “usually young people, age 17-23.”
Spring is a good time for the collection, she says, because many people, both on campus or in the surrounding communities, are updating their wardrobes about now.
Renae Muscatell, business and community liaison for Penobscot Job Corps Center, says job corps students appreciate the donated clothing for several reasons. One, the clothing serves as a model for what they should be considering for workplace attire as they enter the job market. Also, dressing well for a job interview improves the students’ demeanor and sense of professionalism.
“Their confidence just goes through the roof,” Muscatell says.
Over the last 40 years, Penobscot Job Corps has provided economically disadvantaged young people the opportunity to gain essential educational, vocational and life skills needed to enter the workforce. Combining classroom, practical, and work-based learning experiences, the job corps program prepares youths for stable, long-term careers. The agency is funded through the Maine Department of Labor.
Richards says among the many components of the student chapter of the AMA is to provide service to the community or businesses within the community.
She will collect clothing until May 30.