Pitt-Johnstown has joined Pitt-Oakland, Pitt-Bradford, Pitt-Titusville and Pitt-Greensburg in attempts to break a Guinness World Records’ standing for most large articles of clothing collected.
The Give a Thread Campaign is to continue through mid-February, and donations are to be taken to the Student Life Office, Executive Community Relations Director Robert Knipple said.
To break the record, 150,000 clothing articles need to be collected among all participating Pitt campuses.
All of the clothing is to be brought to Pitt-Oakland to be counted and inspected for stains and holes, Knipple said.
Once all the clothing is counted it is to be returned to Pitt-Johnstown to be donated to Goodwill in Moxham as one of Pitt-Johnstown community’s service projects, Knipple said.
Housing and Residence Life Graduate Assistant and Experiential Learning Community overseer Matthew Mullen has helped organize the campaign.
“A group of ten liaisons were interested in doing a clothing drive during the month of January.
“I (contacted) Robert Knipple and he gave me the information about the Give a Thread Campaign and the liaisons decided we would jump on board,” Mullen said.
The liaisons and some freshmen solicited donations twice to raise money to buy articles of clothing to be donated, Mullen said.
“The results from those two nights surpassed my expectations, and showed that there is a large population of the student body willing to give to those who are less fortunate,” Mullen said.
According to the Pitt-Johnstown website, students, staff and faculty all have been encouraged to donate. Even alumni have been donating.
A total of 73,546 articles have been counted, according to Pitt-Oakland’s Director of Student Affairs Misti McKeehen.
Knipple said collections will continue until the end of February.