SAFEHOME has received about half of 550 pairs of Lee jeans donated by NIC Inc. of Olathe. The remainder will be delivered when closet space is available.
Tears filled the eyes of many women at SAFEHOME when they learned NIC Inc. of Olathe and Lee Jeans had donated 550 pairs of jeans to the shelter.
“Many of the women escaped an abusive home situation with just a few personal items in a trash bag,” said Amber Bourek, a spokesperson at SAFEHOME. “Shopping for new, stylist jeans is a luxury not in their budget.”
NIC won the jeans earlier this spring in a fundraising challenge during Lee National Denim Day’s 14th annual fundraiser for breast cancer research. Lee extended the Kansas City area fundraising challenge for the first time in 2009 to recognize area teams that achieved outstanding success in their fundraising efforts.
The teams that raised more than $2,000 for Denim Day were entered for a chance to win jeans for their entire company. NIC won the challenge and the 550 pairs of jeans that went with it.
“When we were notified we had won the free jeans there was no question we would pass them on to women in the community who needed them most,” said Harry Herington, chief executive officer of NIC.
“When I first read about the opportunity to participate in Lee National Denim Day I knew NIC needed to be involved,” Herington said. “NIC has a very service oriented culture and many employees, including myself, have personally supported and cared for women dealing with cancer.”
NIC, with offices at 25501 W. Valley Parkway, provides services that help governments use the Internet to provide a higher level of service to businesses and citizens.
Merriam-based Lee was thrilled that NIC chose to give the jeans to SAFEHOME.
“Lee has worked with SAFEHOME for several years now and we’re proud to help out this organization, which is doing such important work in the Kansas City area,” said Liz Cahill, vice president of marketing and communications for Lee. “It’s always encouraging to see local companies supporting worthy organizations such as SAFEHOME.”
Sharon Katz, executive director of SAFEHOME, located in Overland Park, was pleased by the contribution.
“On behalf of our clients, staff and board of directors, I thank Lee Jeans for their generous donation of brand new jeans for our residents. Jeans are the one item of clothing that everyone wants to wear. New jeans can really boost the self esteem of a recent victim of domestic violence,” Katz said.
Bourek said that because of space limitation in SAFEHOME’s clothing closet, Lee agreed to deliver the jeans in two loads. The first delivery of 275 pairs took place last month. The remainder will arrive when space is available.
“Lee Jeans even let us pick the styles and sizes so that jeans would be available to fit all our clients. They are stored in our clothing closet so both shelter and outreach clients in need can benefit from the donation,” Bourek said. “The new jeans definitely help our efforts to raise the spirits of clients who are going through disheartening experiences. This donation ensures that they will have clothing they need to go to work and school everyday.”
Lee National Denim Day was started in 1996 when Lee employees realized they all had been touched in some way by breast cancer. That year, $1.4 million was raised. Last year, more than $4 million was raised, making Denim Day one of the largest single-day fundraisers nationwide.
Lee invited companies to go casual for a cause, asking their employees to wear jeans to work on Denim Day in exchange for a $5 contribution to fight beast cancer. More than 3,000 companies participated the first year.
