Clothing Drives Raise Money for Safer School Lighting

Chloe Loberg, Student of Journalism
November 27, 2022

Student sponsored clothing drives held in December are raising money for fluorescent light blinds to be placed around NHS. 

Edith Soto, sophomore, is selling the clothing collected from the drives in the Apollo commons all of first mod on three dates. The first sale was held on Nov. 18, but it is not too late to catch the sales on Dec. 7 and 13. 

The project is Soto’s idea for her genius hour project, a semester-long assignment done by Fusion students to do something positive in the community.

“Do something awesome; change the world,” Soto said with pride in her contribution to community.  

Clothing of any size or style can be donated to room 428 in the Fusion office, located in downstairs Conant. 

Why fluorescent light blinds? 

According to the N.J.S.D. website, a clear desire of teachers at NHS is access to more natural light, especially rooms such as 134 that has no windows. The fluorescent lighting in most classrooms, especially the Fusion room, hurts student’s eyes and heads, Soto mentions. She aspires to create better work environments for students. 

Soto aims to raise $50-60 from the sales for fabric to cover the fluorescent lights in classrooms under high stress, such as math or AP classes. She hopes to find interesting patterns or paint the fabric herself. The first sale raised $31, over half of her goal. 

Her idea was approved by Principal Brian Wunderlich, who has helped with the planning process. 

Why promoting sustainability in school? 

As stated by earth.org, an environmental nonprofit, “We discard 92 million tons of clothes-related waste each year.” Soto is combatting this by reselling old clothes that might have been thrown away. 

Soto’s idea comes from her love for clothes. She believes the best outlet for fashion is secondhand, partly because of its affordability, so she is selling all clothes for $5 and under. 

“Teens can have access to secondhand clothing, which is better than buying them in stores, especially fast fashion.” 

Last year, Soto spent the year purchasing dolls from the thrift store, creating new clothes for them, and redonating them. This year she decided to keep with her theme of clothing and continued to give new lives to items that may have been otherwise discarded.