Songs & Socks

You may have dropped off donations for the Columbia Association’s Youth and Teen Center’s Annual Clothing Drive last year or you may remember seeing
the donation box in the lobby of Claret Hall. It’s now time for the 6th Annual Youth and Teen Center Clothing Drive which runs through November 30.

Last year, thanks to your donations, the Youth and Teen Center served over 500 families through their weekend-long clothing distribution. Fifty-eight volunteers helped collect, sort, set up, and serve the people who came for donations. The growing need for clothes, shoes, coats, socks, and other items for families who live right here in Howard County is not only alarming, but continues to rise. So please donate any clothing you no longer need. The collection box is in the lobby at Claret Hall.

The clothing collection is connected to the Hear My Voice Teen Idol competition, which takes place in October. Here’s how: middle and high school students
are invited to audition and compete to be crowned Howard County’s Teen Idol. There are several rounds of auditions, a semi-final competition at Slayton House, and then the final showdown on Sunday, October 12 at the Lakefront.

One of the requirements for each Idol finalist is to participate in the Youth and Teen Center Clothing Drive. Each Idol finalist will be required to decorate and deliver a donation box to a Columbia donation center. When they deliver the box, they take a “selfie” with the collection box at the facility in which they’ve been assigned. Once the finalists forward the picture to a Youth and Teen Center staff person, they will be officially recognized as having completed the
project, making them eligible to compete at the Lakefront. Finalists who are not compliant with the service portion of the competition may be disqualified.

Claret Hall is happy to be a donation  box location again this year. In past years, River Hill residents have been so generous that the box filled up several times during the donation period. We hope to repeat this again this year and hope to see you.