Circle K club gets into spirit of giving with clothing drive

Anna Roederer

With “Jingle Bells” being played on the radio and festive items filling the shelves of stores, it is easy to get into the holiday spirit of giving and receiving.

Circle K, a student-run college branch of the service oriented Kiwanis Club, offers an opportunity for students, faculty and the Bowling Green community to participate in this season’s spirit of giving with a clothing drive to benefit Potter Children’s Home.

Paintsville senior Faith Mills, founder of the Circle K branch at WKU, said that the club experienced great success with the drive two years ago and decided to bring it back.

“It totally blew our expectations out of the water,” Mills said.

Along with support from churches and the Greek community, Circle K received so many donations that they had to move the clothes to Mills’ sorority house.

“All the clothes in the bags took up the sunroom, and sorting them took up the entire living room,” she said.

Circle K has been at WKU for only three years, so the clothing drive provides an opportunity for the club to help Potter Children’s Home and to get its name out on campus, current Circle K president, Nicholasville senior Jeff Walker said.

“For an organization that is trying to find an identity and way to serve, this is a great way for us to reach out to WKU and the Bowling Green community,” Walker said.

Walker and Mills both expressed appreciation for the support Circle K has received from Bowling Green’s Kiwanis Club in order to make the clothing drive a success.

“I think it will go really well,” Walker said. “We have a lot of support from Kiwanis.”

David Theis, president-elect of Bowling Green’s Kiwanis Club, believes that Circle K’s clothing drive benefits not only Potter Children’s Home but also those that give.

“It’s going to benefit students because they are learning to volunteer and to give back to the community,” Theis said. “It doesn’t have to be money, just time.”

Walker and Mills also emphasized Circle K’s desire for faculty, staff and people from the community to get involved with the clothing drive as well as students.

For those wanting to get involved with the clothing drive, donation boxes are located in several residence halls and in Cravens library. Circle K will also be putting boxes up at the Warren County Public Library on State Street and at the Bob Kirby branch off of Scottsville Road.

The clothing drive will run until Friday, Dec. 6, so that students have time to get items from home over Thanksgiving break. Items are not limited to clothes but can include accessories such as purses, bags and shoes.

While the drive is to benefit children and teens at Potter Children’s Home, Circle K is not collecting any certain type of clothing. Walker said Potter will sell anything that they do not use, and the proceeds from the sale will go back towards benefiting those at Potter.