'Here to help each other': UVU students launch clothing drive to help peers acquire business wear

OREM — If anyone knows the struggle of scraping together the right pieces of clothing to fit in and feel confident in a professional setting, it's college students.

While they're already navigating the rising cost of living and a competitive job market, buying professional clothes is often another barrier to recent graduates joining the workforce.

But students in Utah Valley University's Department of Communications are working to change that by bringing the PowerSuit Project to campus.

On Tuesday, UVU students will have the opportunity to "shop" (free of cost) a collection of gently used professional clothing, including blazers, dress shirts, slacks, skirts, dresses, shoes, scrubs and accessories gathered from donation locations across campus.

"With the cost of living being so high right now, gas prices rising, food and tuition rising, there's just not a lot of extra space for getting extra items like clothing," said Sydney Wilson, a junior at UVU who is helping organize and run the event. "We just decided that this is something that's really important for our students to take that next step in their career, where they can feel comfortable and confident in their clothing items."

To gather the items, students have placed donation boxes across UVU's campus at the following locations:

• Food court
• Fulton Library, 2nd floor
• Clarke Building, 5th floor by faculty offices
• Keller Building, by the elevator

"Community is really big support in this, and we really appreciate everything that they're donating," Wilson said.

UVU previously had a PowerSuit event in March, put on by the UVU Public Relations Student Society of America.

In addition to giving students the chance to get professional attire, the event will also bring other career-focused programming, Wilson said.

Events include a professional photographer on-site to take students' headshots and a separate table focused on building resumes.

"We just want it to be collaborative, and we just want (students) to feel valued and important," Wilson said. "We see students and we see our struggles and everything. ... We're here to help each other."

The event itself will take place on Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the concourse of the Clarke Building.

More information on the event can be found here.