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Second Annual Pack to Give Back Supports Clothing Access for Students

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Pack to Give Back is an annual service opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to engage with one another and give back to their community in strategic ways, meeting the basic needs of students and creating tangible impacts.

Hosted jointly, last fall’s Pack to Give Back event was a partnership between UT’s Office of Sustainability and the Free Store, the Office of the Dean of Students, and the Jones Center for Leadership and Service.

Primarily an effort to support student basic needs, the volunteer event collected more than 2,000 articles of donated clothing with an estimated value of over $10,000. More than 150 student volunteers and 25 total staff, faculty, and alumni volunteers joined together to complete the considerable task of sorting, measuring, tagging, steam cleaning, and organizing the clothing items.

Smokey’s Closet was the final destination for 75% of the donated items, with the other 25% distributed to the Free Store. Both of these campus resources supply students with free clothing items for a variety of needs, including professional clothing for job interviews and career fairs.

“Service opportunities like these allow our students to understand how they make a real impact on the community around them,” said Byron Hughes, assistant vice chancellor and dean of students. “We appreciate creating transformative experiences where students can connect their strengths and passion with the needs of society in the Volunteer Spirit!”

Pack to Give Back participants learned about sustainability efforts, basic needs resources, and the importance of reducing clothing waste. After each volunteer shift, participants also engaged in reflection led by the Jones Center ambassadors. Participants were asked to reflect on and discuss what motivated them to sign up to volunteer at the event and why Smokey’s Closet exists. Participants also reflected on other ways to contribute to campus and the larger community and aspects of the service experience that they felt will remain with them as part of their Volunteer experience.