Do you have a pair of jeans left over? Donate them!
Warm a heart and give a pair of jeans
'Jeans are always in short supply for us. Besides warm, coats, can't you also collect jeans?' This is a wish of Kledingbank Eindhoven, but one we hear more often from other poverty relief organizations. Because even in our prosperous Brainport region, people live with money worries. In Eindhoven, at least 1,300 people are homeless. It can happen through divorce, illness or losing your job, for example, which means there is not enough money for clothes.
So for these people, we collected jeans from April 2-17, 2024, together with concerned organizations. Over 2,000 collected jeans were donated to local foundations that work daily for people living below the poverty line: Springboard, Kledingbank Eindhoven, Stichting Sociaal Solidair, Ervaring die Staat, Inloophuis 't Hemeltje, Leger des Heils, Neos, De Kledingzolder Woensel, Living Room for Refugees, Network Good People, SMO Helmond and foundation Rechter Handen Veldhoven. One container went to thrift store Karoesell.
For seven years each fall, we have provided extra warm winter coats for local poverty relief organizations. Like actor and presenter Mike Weerts, among others, give your jeans a second life and donate. Double the goodies! Warm a heart and give a pair of jeans.
Thank you to all the collection points and people who donated a pair of jeans:
- Maatje040/Vrijwillige Hulpdienst Eindhoven
- High Tech Campus Eindhoven - restaurant Mart on The Strip
- Vascobelo at business park Strijp T
- Vitalis Peppelrode
- Cordaad Welfare
And involved organizations ASML, BDO, DELA, primary school De Driestam, DLL, Fluke, GE Healthcare, Illumnia, International School Eindhoven, PwC, NXP, Synergio, VDL and Woonbedrijf who collected lots of jeans behind the scenes!
Poverty in the Netherlands
Although the Netherlands is among the richest countries in Europe, poverty is here too. Research by the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) shows that single-parent families, people from non-Western backgrounds, welfare recipients and single people under the age of 65 are at high risk of severe poverty. Poverty manifests itself, among other things, in (very) limited financial resources, social exclusion, health problems and limited access to education.
Source: Poverty Fund Foundation
The impact of jeans
The fashion industry is one of the world's leading polluting industries. The production and distribution of cotton crops contributes to various forms of environmental pollution, including water, air and soil pollution. The fashion industry is a huge industry; it employs 300 million people around the world. Cotton production alone accounts for nearly 7% of all employment in some low-wage countries. Read more