Campus Connection

[caption id="attachment_4556" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Susan Fabian, UW-L student"][/caption]

Donations needed for kids and young adults, ages 0-20

Susan Fabian has three words to describe being a student parent — “busy, busy, busy.” And when it comes that time of the year to buy clothes for her kids — she doesn’t want to add broke to the list. That’s why Fabian, a UW-L student, is organizing the first Back-to-School Clothing Swap. All student parents in the community are invited to come to the swap from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, at UW-L’s Recreational Eagle Center, 1601 Badger St., La Crosse. Now through Aug. 23 clothing donations for kids and young adults ages 0 to 20 will be accepted at the entrance to the YMCA – La Crosse branch. “We wanted to have an event in the community to swap our gently used clothes and get some clothes that are new to our kids without spending an arm and a leg,” says Fabian. The idea for a clothing swap came from the Student Parent Community, an organization Fabian started in fall 2010. The group unites student parents from UW-L, Viterbo University and Western Technical College for networking and collaborative problem solving so they don’t feel alone as student parents, says Fabian. “Student parents expressed the amazing cost of buying back to school clothing and shoes for their kids,” says Fabian. “It will be a real financial difficulty for them to get their kids back to school and most of us have more than one child.” All unclaimed items from the clothing swap will go to The Salvation Army and New Horizons Shelter and Women’s Center. The Student Parent Community is a branch of UW-L’s Self Sufficiency Program, a free, one-semester program available at UW-L that seeks to extend the availability of higher education to low-income parents by preparing them to be successful college students. Out of respect for fellow swappers, bring items nice enough to lend to a friend. Do not bring ripped, dirty, stained items or those with broken zippers, etc. All items must be freshly laundered before arrival. Sizes needed (Infants 0-6t, Girls 7-16, & Jr.sizes 0-15, Boys 8-20) If you go — Who: Student parents What: Back-to-School Clothing Swap Where: Recreational Eagle Center, UW-L When: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27