ROSWELL—Chris Schneider, a junior at Blessed Trinity High School, recently found a way to help men and women just getting out of prison. Wanting to aid them in getting started in their new lives, he initiated, organized and publicized an effort to collect clothing for newly released inmates. The clothing was stored in a classroom at the Roswell school for a few days before other students loaded the bags of clothes into vehicles.

Chris Schneider, a junior at Blessed Trinity High School, Roswell, organized a clothing drive to bolster the wardrobes of newly released prison inmates, with help from his fellow students and Deacon Richard Tolcher, Prison and Jail Ministry coordinator. Shown are (l-r) Deacon Tolcher, Zach Brecker, Noah Jones and Schneider.

Schneider said the experience reminded him that many people need items to which others don’t give a passing thought. He said it had not occurred to him before that people coming out of prison need clothing.

He learned that about 180 women and men each month need clothing to help get a fresh start after being released. Many prisoners don’t have either the family support or money to buy clothing, he said.

“When I was separating the clothing, I just kept thinking how much these people were going to appreciate wearing such nice clothing. I thought that these donations gave them much dignity in their new start. They could feel proud of themselves in such fine clothes,” he wrote in an email. He hopes to run a second clothing drive for prisoners in the future.

At the conclusion of the collection, Deacon Richard Tolcher, the archdiocesan Prison and Jail Ministry coordinator, drove 45 large bags filled with clothes to the transitional centers for freed prisoners.