By Ashley Bradley/ne news editor
Underprivileged children and adults will receive gloves, scarves, jackets, coats and sweaters to help stay warm this winter, courtesy of NE Campus students.
Cindy Mask, associate professor of surgical technology, started the charitable project gLove in 2005, and it has grown ever since. Last year, 1,000 winter items were collected and donated to SafeHaven Women’s Shelter.
This year, Mask has raised the bar and plans on gathering 2,000 items or more.
Also, instead of sending them to one organization, she plans to send them to three: SafeHaven, Mission Arlington and Cook Children’s Medical Center.
“Because we will have so much this year,” she said, “we will actually get to hand articles of clothing to those in need.”
In all of Mask’s classes, she not only offered students the chance to change someone’s life by giving winter apparel but also bonus points toward their grades.
“I feel like students who are going into the medical profession should be all about giving back to the community,” she said.
Though it was only required to bring one article of clothing for bonus points, two of Mask’s students brought 35 items.
“We just went in and cleaned out our houses,” said NE Campus student Erica Amos. “We talked to our kids and told them about how important helping other people is.”
Though Amos’ children were upset to give some things up, they did the right thing because it would help the less fortunate, she said.
Friend and fellow NE student Amanda Siemering said her children were happy to give things up.
“Since day one, they were raised to give stuff to those less fortunate,” she said, “so they were happy to donate.”
Both agreed that because people need help in this economy, the idea to start up gLove was smart and easy to get people involved.
“Everyone has something in their house they don’t need,” Amos said. “[Mask] should be commended for all of her efforts.”
Mask said that whether she is teaching classes at NE Campus, taking care of her teenage boys, attending PTA meetings or giving winter clothes to those less fortunate, she is always trying to do something for the better.
“I would give the shirt off my back,” she said.
Last year when Mask’s family got the chance to go on a skiing trip, her husband was confused when he couldn’t find any gloves.
“We didn’t have any gloves because we had given them all to charity,” she said.
Wanting to expand the project internationally, she said that she is glad gLove’s potential to grow is so high because she can’t do it all alone.
“If everyone just does one thing, we can change the world,” she said.
Donations for gLove can be mailed to Cindy Mask, Tarrant County College, 828 Harwood Road, Hurst, Texas 76054. For more information, contact Mask at 817-515-6568 or cindy.mask@tccd.edu.
