UA’s Students in Free Enterprise Team, Cintas to Clothe Kids in Impoverished Third World Countries

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – More than 1,700 articles of clothing have been collected during the past year for distribution to impoverished children in Third World countries, thanks to the combined efforts of The University of Alabama’s Students in Free Enterprise and Cintas Corp.

The collection of clothing, from students, faculty and staff, made the local Cintas Corp.’s “Clothe the Kids” program the most successful in the company’s South-Central Region history.

“Clothe the Kids” was started in 2003 by Cintas Corp., in conjunction with Matthew 25 Ministries, to raise awareness of the need for children’s clothing in foreign countries. The program collects donations of slightly used clothing and/or money for new clothing to help impoverished children in Third-World countries.

Since the program began, more than 500,000 items of clothing have been donated. This year with the help of the UA student team, known as SIFE, Cintas, Tuscaloosa expects to be in the top-10 collections in the nation.

Stacey Bledsoe, human resource manager for Cintas, was instrumental in helping the SIFE team reach its goals. “With SIFE’s help, we were able to exceed our goals for this year,” Bledsoe said. “I look forward to having SIFE and UA’s help again next year.”