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Ms. Cheap T-shirt Drive is back. Here’s how you can help




Mary Hance, aka Ms. Cheap, collects T-shirts during one of her previous T-shirt drives. This year’s drive runs May 17 through June 6.Courtesy / Room in the Inn/dicksonpost.com

Mary Hance, aka Ms. Cheap, collects T-shirts during one of her previous T-shirt drives. This year’s drive runs May 17 through June 6.Courtesy / Room in the Inn/dicksonpost.com

The Ms. Cheap T-shirt Drive is back, with the sixth annual collection of shirts for the homeless community running from May 17 through June 6 with multiple drop-off locations across Middle Tennessee.

Sponsored by Main Street Media of Tennessee and NewsChannel 5, the drive simply collects gently used T-shirts to give to Room in the Inn to distribute to homeless people over the long hot summer. Easy peasy!

It is so easy that in last year’s three-week drive, 15,000 shirts were donated, bringing the total for the five years to more than 45,000 shirts for Room in the Inn to hand out.

This is a great way to clean out your closets and drawers and enable Room in the Inn to brighten the days of some of the homeless clients it serves.

Here is what is wanted: clean men’s and women’s T-shirts. They can be from schools, charity events, brands, concerts, vacation spots, races, etc. The only unacceptable shirts are ones that are lewd or that promote alcohol or drugs.

Volunteers help sort donated T-shirts during a previous Ms. Cheap T-shirt drive. This year’s drive runs May 17 through June 6.Courtesy / Room in the Inn/dicksonpost.com

Volunteers help sort donated T-shirts during a previous Ms. Cheap T-shirt drive. This year’s drive runs May 17 through June 6.Courtesy / Room in the Inn/dicksonpost.com

Room in the Inn Development Director Melanie Barnett said the need is for new or gently used/laundered T-shirts and that men’s sizes large to 2X are the most needed.

“Ms. Cheap’s annual T-shirt drive is such a blessing to those in our community who are experiencing homelessness,” Barnett said. “During the warmest days, having a fresh, clean shirt provides much-needed relief to someone who spends most of their time outside. The support from Main Street Media, NewsChannel 5 and the Greater Nashville community is overwhelming each year, and we feel like this year is going to be even bigger than last!”

She noted that while Room in the Inn’s campus is in Nashville, the drive not only supports individuals using services at the Room in the Inn campus, but that Room in the Inn has been able to share the shirts with numerous other partner agencies around Middle Tennessee that serve those experiencing homelessness.

Room in the Inn’s reach is wider than just Nashville because it partners with 70 community organizations and is supported by 200 Middle Tennessee congregations.

In addition to dropping off shirts at designated locations, you can also conduct your own T-shirt drive in a neighborhood, church, Scout troop or club.

Just do it! It is a great way to help others and clean out those closets at the same time.

Thanks in advance to all of you who are donating, collecting or promoting this kind of outreach. It is not exactly giving the shirt off your back, but pretty close.

Shirt donations can be dropped off at Room in the Inn at 705 Drexel St., Nashville, TN 37203 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, May 17-June 6. Use the call box at the entrance gate, and a staff member will buzz you in and accept your donation. Email info@roomintheinn.org with questions.

Other drop-off locations between May 17 and June 6 include:

• Christ Church Cathedral, 900 Broadway, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays and at services on Sunday.

• Billy’s Corner, 4400 Murphy Road in Sylvan Park, will accept shirts daily.

• Otter Creek Church will accept donated shirts at both of its locations, 3534 West End Ave. and 409 Franklin Road, at its regular church services. Drop-offs can also be made between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesdays at West End and 8:30 a.m. and noon Fridays at Brentwood.

• FiftyForward centers in Middle Tennessee, between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

• FiftyForward Bordeaux, 3315 John Mallette Drive, Nashville, TN 37218; 615-248-2272

• FiftyForward College Grove, 8607 Horton Highway, College Grove, TN 37046; 615-368-7093

• FiftyForward Donelson Station, 108 Donelson Pike, Nashville, TN 37214; 615-883-8375

• FiftyForward J. L. Turner, 8101 Highway 100, Nashville, TN 37221; 615-622-3040

• FiftyForward Knowles, 174 Rains Ave., Nashville, TN 37203; 615-743-3400

• FiftyForward Madison Station, 530 Madison Station Blvd., Madison, TN 37115; 615-860-7180

• FiftyForward Martin Center, 960 Heritage Way, Brentwood, TN 37027; 615-376-0102

For more information email info@roomintheinn.org.

Mary Hance, who has four decades of journalism experience in the Nashville area, writes a weekly Ms. Cheap column for Main Street Media. She also appears on Thursdays on “Talk of the Town” on NewsChannel 5. Reach her at mscheap@mainstreetmediatn.com and follow her on Facebook at Facebook.com/mscheap.

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