BY JONATHAN CRANE
Integrity Staffing’s 1st annual Sweatshirt Drive was a major success and through their efforts collected more than 400 sweatshirts from local businesses benefiting the homeless shelter at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Tigard. The warm clothing (including many coats, wool hats and gloves) were put to immediate use and were distributed to local homeless people just in time for the very cold weather we’ve been experiencing.
The idea came from Integrity Staffing VP of Sales and Marketing, Jordan Berrier, who reached out to dozens of local companies to see if they would participate, and participate they did! Many of the 38 participating companies had wardrobe sized boxes overflowing with sweatshirts donated from their staff. People seemed to really enjoy giving to local people in need and felt great about doing so. Berrier said, “When we went around to collect the donations from the various businesses, they were all smiles and happy to assist. It was the ultimate win-win!”
Jordan’s motivation came from reading the stat that “An estimated 2,000 homeless people died last year from cold exposure.” The goal was 300, but the results far exceeded that number. “Next year will be even larger!” says Berrier.
Jonathan Crane owns Integrity Staffing and is the Past Publisher of Tualatin Life. He’s lived in Tualatin for 18 years. You can reach him at jon@integritystaffingusa.com.