An image of Charity Newsies’ mission statement, which reads “No child should ever have to be kept out of school for the lack of adequate clothing.” Credit: Kym Ismaila
In an attempt to combat the clothing insecurity faced by children nationwide, Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business Honors Cohort and Charity Newsies have found a creative way to spread awareness.
Alongside local nonprofit organization Charity Newsies, Fisher’s Honors Cohort will present the “Charity Newsies Fashion Show,” at which guests can learn more about how to combat clothing insecurity. Charity Newsies executive director Subha Lembach worked with cohort member Kym Ismaila and seven of her peers to ensure this event — which will take place at Charity Newsies’ headquarters, located at 4300 Indianola Ave., on Friday at 6:30 p.m. — could become a reality.
Lembach said the nonprofit has existed in Franklin County since 1907, with a central mission of ensuring children in need have clothing for school.
Clothing packs assembled by Charity Newsies. Credit: Kym Ismaila
“We provide every child with brand-new clothing,” Lembach said. “They will receive a coat, hat, gloves, underwear for the entire week, six pairs of socks, three shirts and three pants. If they go to a school with a dress code, they will receive compliant clothing, and if they go to a school with a uniform, they will get a voucher so they can get that uniform.”
After being tasked with creating a community service project for a Fisher’s Honors Cohort program called “Impact Challenge,” Ismaila, a third-year in marketing, and the other seven members of her cohort — all of whom are third-year students and first-year cohort members — wanted to produce a project they all felt enthusiastic about, Ismaila said.
“We tried to combine all our passions in one way,” Ismaila said. “Some members were also passionate about retail, and some members of the group found that they were passionate about kids, so we wanted to do something with children in Columbus.”
This common objective of serving children in the Columbus community is what motivated the cohort to reach out to Lembach and the Charity Newsies, Ismaila said. However, she said the cohort initially contacted Lembach not for the purpose of direct collaboration, but rather for advice on other potential initiatives the cohort could take; evidently, this correspondence eventually led to a partnership.
Though Lembach played a major role in the project’s development, Ismaila said the students were the ones who put the wheels into motion.
“We were in charge of reaching out to donors such as Goodwill, reaching out to places to get food donations for the actual event so we could put as much money as we could to the actual challenge,” Ismaila said.
Lembach said the fashion show will feature children who have received clothing from the nonprofit, allowing them to strut down the runway in their favorite school outfits. When she heard the cohort was interested in advocating for clothing insecurity, Lembach and the rest of Charity Newsies were on board.
“It just seemed like a fun way to build some awareness among the general community about the importance of clothing and the intersection between clothing and education,” Lembach said. “We often think about the importance of housing for kids to go to school, and we also think about food; those are all really important. But making sure kids have adequate clothing so they can attend school is also a critical need.”
The event will also show an informative video created by various cohort members that expands on the topic of clothing insecurity, which features interviews with Lembach, other Charity Newsies staff members and families that have been personally affected by the organization, Ismaila said.
“She talked about her journey and how she got passionate about the topic,” Ismaila said. “We also got to interview the parents of the children who get clothing from this facility, which was a big part of the video. We want to make it clear who we are and why we are making this video.”
Charity Newsies — and now Fisher’s Honors Cohort — wants people to understand the link between clothing and education.
“Kids need clothing too, and sometimes clothing is not as easy for parents to get for their kids as we think it is,” Lembach said. “For example, approximately half of Columbus City schools have moved to dress codes, and so those dress codes often require a polo and khaki pants, and those can be far more expensive than a T-shirt and jeans.”
Lembach and Ismaila said they are excited to see the event come to life and encourage people to attend the show, which will also include games and raffles.
“We definitely want to make sure that everyone has fun during the event, and that’s why we are incorporating games and raffles,” Ismaila said. “We want to spread awareness, and we want the kids to have fun; that is our main priority.”
Tickets for the event range from $10 to $20 in cost. More information about the event can be found via Eventbrite or the Honors Cohort x Charity Newsies’ Instagram page.
