Sororities sponsor clothing drive

Local businesswoman Sandy Keller is helping at-risk women dress for success.
She created My Sister’s Closet, a 15-year-old nonprofit organization that provides women with free business attire including pants, blouses, shoes, accessories and a variety of suits.

To help increase inventory, the IU Panhellenic Association has paired with My Sister’s Closet to sponsor a clothing drive through Nov. 21.

Boxes will be set up in each household of Panhellenic-associated sororities.

My Sister’s Closet offers women two professional outfits for their interviews, Keller said.If they get hired, they are given three more professional outfits.

My Sister’s Closet is supported by income it receives from purchases of its clothes, Keller said.,  The PHA aims to boost its inventory.

Senior MaryClaire Cieply, My Sister’s Closet public relations coordinator and Delta Gamma’s director of public relations, organized the event.

“Because I’m a part of the greek system, I figured it would be an easy way to get connections,” Cieply said. “My Sister’s Closet and IU PHA have similar messages about women.”

Cieply encourages women to donate gently used business wear via a sorority’s donation box.

Each article of clothing is assigned a point value. Upscale clothing such as blazers are worth five points, while casual shirts and jewelry are worth one point.

The points are added up at the end of the donating period to determine a winner. IU PHA will award the winning sorority $200 to go toward its philanthropy.

“I hope this brings awareness to My Sister’s Closet,” Cieply said. “PanHel is a target group. We are women. We know how hard it is to find a job.”

Cieply said she believes this is the first time IU PHA has done a campus-wide clothing drive with a community organization.

“We want women to get a better chance of receiving employment,” Cieply said. “If more people knew about this, they could try to help out as much as they could.”

Keller said she appreciates the clothing drive IU PHA has organized.

“We are constantly looking for trendy and professional attire,” Keller said. “We need to keep inventory coming into the store to meet the needs of these women.”

My Sister’s Closet has worked with many student organizations before, including some through the Kelley School of Business, and sororities  Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Kappa Gamma.

“We would not be able to exist without the help of IU students,” Keller said. “It would be impossible.”

Follow reporter Tori Lawhorn on Twitter @ToriLawhorn.