Industry VolunteersClothe At-Risk Youth
Volunteers from a variety of Los Angeles-based fashion companies were on hand to help feed and hand out clothing to more than 1,000 children and their relatives at the sixth annual Camp Max Straus Clothing Day. Camp Max Straus is an extension of the Jewish Big Brothers program, which provides role models for disadvantaged and disabled children.
Fashion industry sponsors included Atlas Textile, LaMode, Pacific Knitting Mills, Santa Fe Finishing and Security Textile. The sponsors provided clothing as gifts to nearly 500 at-risk youth between the ages of 7 and 13 who will attend the camp this summer.
The volunteers gave out 2,000 T-shirts, 2,000 shorts, 1,000 sweatshirts, 1,000 sweatpants, 3,000 pairs of socks and 1,000 backpacks.
“Our goal was to touch these children in a way that gives them much more than clothes for a terrific camp stay,” said Brian Weitman, chair of the event and president of Security Textile. “We want to contribute to their confidence and emotional growth, giving them inspiration to do something with their lives that is more than they could have ever done.”
The Fashion Division of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles has supported the event since its inception.
Camp Max Straus, a non-sectarian facility run by Jewish Big Brothers, is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation. Kids of all denominations attend the camp for free. For more information, call (323) 761-8675. —Darryl James
