Cool threads, deserving kids

It was a typical teenage-girl shopping spree.

Girls went into the dressing room and came out to exclamations from their friends such as, "Oh, I really like that shirt. It looks so good on you." And, "Cute shoes!"

But when three of them emerged in prom dresses, Adrienne Jordan, who had been watching, became emotional.

"I just started to cry," she said. "It was so cool."

Jordan, 18, organized a clothing drive as part of her senior project.

On Wednesday afternoon, she transformed Carson High School's downstairs cafeteria into a temporary clothing store where students were invited to take anything they liked.

Dressing rooms were set up by draping a sheet between folded tables.

"I think she did an amazing thing," said Kim Riggs, director of the Students In Transition program for the Carson City School District. "It's so casual. It's just like shopping."

Jordan worked in coordination with Riggs, who oversees the 400 students throughout the district who live in motels, hotels, campgrounds or double up with other families.

Riggs said there's probably a lot more students who are from single-parent families or from families who live paycheck to paycheck.

Jordan noticed those students often wore the same clothes to school day after day.

"It made them feel like they weren't a part of the school," she said.

"The dropout rate for the needy and homeless is higher just because they don't feel like they fit in."

To remedy the problem, Jordan began soliciting her peers at the high school as well as members of the community to donate clothing.

"I would go home at night and have six or seven phone calls to return," Jordan said. "Everybody's been donating tons of clothes."

Carousel Kids Store owners Dave and Maria Gordon received a shipment of clothes that were too large for their customers, so they donated the seven boxes to Jordan's project.

With the help of volunteers from Coldwell Banker Bestsellers, Jordan arranged the clothes by gender to make them available to students in need.

Leftover clothes will go to local charities.

Ariel, 14, who has been in the transition program since she was 11, appreciated Jordan's efforts and the support of the community.

"I love it because my family can't afford all the stuff I got here," she said. "It means people actually care about other people."

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.