SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Students and teachers at Mohonasen High School are making sure people in the community can have clothes, shoes, or personal items whenever they need them. The school collects donations from people in the community and works with the Schenectady City Mission to ensure students, faculty members, and anyone who needs certain items has access to them.
“We have any clothing item you can imagine, from jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets, to gloves, to shampoo and deodorant,” said Faith Perry, a teacher at Mohonasen High School.
Every item goes back to the community one way or another.
“They donate it, and then we’re able to give it back into the community, and then we partner with the City Mission, and anything we aren’t able to use here, we give right back to the City Mission,” said Perry.
“We believe in a five-star philosophy: love, listen, learn, lead and lift. And that is actually happening here,” said Gary Spadaro, the director of social enterprise at Schenectady City Mission.
It’s next door to the Alternative Education classroom. The room dedicated to helping others is called The Anchor Room.
“We all have our different stories and where we come from and our backgrounds and things like that, and the anchor is what holds us together and keeps us afloat,” said Mohonasen senior Derek King.
Students sort through bags of donations when they come in. Each item finds a temporary home on a rack or in a drawer until someone puts it on or takes it home.
“It doesn’t matter whether you need it or you want it. Anybody can come in here. It doesn’t matter what socio-economic background you’re from. We have teachers that come in and get clothes,” Perry said.
It all started out when Perry reached out to the Schenectady City Mission for a pair of jeans for a student years ago. That turned into a closet filled with clothes -- and now it’s a classroom filled with all the necessities a person can need.
“It we don’t have it here, we will find it,” Perry said.
“Nobody should be ashamed to wear hand-me-downs,” said freshman Anjeila Estrada.
The Anchor Project transformed a school initiative into a community effort, helping countless people while teaching students a life lesson.
“It shouldn’t matter what I wear. It’s my character that matters,” Perry said.
“When we walk through that door, our backgrounds aren’t important. It’s what we do together and how we work together as a community,” said King.
If you would like to donate used clothing, new personal care items, or money you can drop them off at Mohonasen High School or at the Schenectady City Mission.