The plastic bins in Josey Martinez-Herrera’s kitchen are starting to overflow with red, white and blue.
Well into the first month of her annual school unifrom drive, Martinez-Herrera has 112 complete uniforms for girls and 114 for boys, and that number grows every day. Her goal for her third year is to be able to give one complete, nicely kept uniform to 1,000 East Chicago kids who need them before school starts.
As former president of the Franklin Elementary Parent-Teacher Association, Martinz-Herrera, an activist by nature, saw students constantly show up to school either not dressed in uniform or in ill-fitting uniforms. Because the school city doesn’t have a program for kids to get them, she hatched a plan.
“People can get uniforms through (North) Township, but it’s a long process, and you’re only allotted X-amount of dollars,” Martinez-Herrera said. “So one night, I was on the phone with a friend, and two days later, I made a flyer and created a Facebook event.”
Martinez-Herrera was able to wrangle 550 uniforms that first year and 800 in 2014. Friends who donate uniforms bring them to her washed, but those that aren’t get taken to a local laundromat that allows her to wash them free-of-charge as long as she provides the soap.
New uniforms are also welcome in her drive, as Martinez-Herrera works with Twin City Uniform Outlet for folks who want to donate money to the cause. Getting its owner to participate wasn’t easy the first year, but now, the two work hand-in-hand.
“That first year, I went in and asked her if she would donate, and she declined, so I went in the next week, and she declined again,” Martinez Herrera said, laughing. “Finally, she donated brand new socks, which we greatly appreciated. Now, she handles our layaways for us; since we haven’t received our 501(C)3 status yet, we can’t take monetary donations, but people can make direct payments on the layaway bill for us.
“Our first layaway bill was $550, and we paid it off in a week. The second one was $810, and I’ll get that paid off.”
Lee has been happy to chip in, offering Martinez-Herrrera a discount to her for the uniforms she puts on layaway.
“She tells me the popular sizes, and we hold them for her,” Lee said. “Whoever donates money helps pay them off, and then she starts a new one.
“She’s really helping the community.”
Martinez-Herrera will distribute the uniforms Aug. 1 at a back-to-school rally at Cross Church, 425 W. Chicago Ave. All she asks is that parents bring identification proving they’re from East Chicago and that children are accompanied by adults.
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“Since these were collected in the city, I want them to go to people in need in the city,” she said. “So far, people respond well to the criteria. Some people, on the days of the drive, show up at 8 a.m. so if they’re there that early, they’re really in need, so I feel they should be residents.”
Next year, Martinez-Herrera hopes to include charter school uniforms in her cache and would love to hit more than one rally.
“I wish I could give more, but the more response I get, the more kids I can help.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
To help
People can drop off their gently used pre-k to 12th-grade uniforms at six places drop off places, including the East Chicago Public Library Branch and Robert Pastrick Public Library; Fagen Pharmacy in East Chicago and Harbor Barbers in East Chicago. Josey Martinez-Herrera is looking for red, white and blue polo shirts, and skirts, pants, dresses and shorts in navy blue or khaki.