Photo: Karyn Regal/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Retail giant Amazon is celebrating its Prime Day sales by giving back to the community here in Boston.
Amazon is partnering with local nonprofit Catie's Closet to help give students at the Joseph Lee School in Dorchester access to free clothing and other supplies like shoes and toiletries. The company is donating $50,000 to make this possible and to set up a closet where students will be able to pick out anything they want that they can keep free of charge.
Amazon workers spent hours unpacking school bus loads of clothes donated by the company to get the closet ready for students. Mickey Cockrell, the CEO and co-founder of Catie's Closet, said helping kids have access to clothing will in turn motivate them to come to school more often.
"If you don't feel good, if you don't look good, if you're going to be the subject of bullying, if you don't have the means because you're from a low-income community, then you're not going to come to school, you're going to hide," she said. "By positioning a Catie's Closet right in the building, we're encouraging kids to come towards school for the solution."
Joesph Lee School Principal Paul Kennedy said he's worked at schools with Catie's Closets before and saw how they can impact students.
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"When you look your best, you do your best and we want to make sure our students look their best because it also makes them feel their best," he said. "When you're feeling good and you're feeling ready to go and you're feeling really proud of your appearance and how you're expressing yourself to others, you're ready to express yourself through your words, through your actions, and ultimately through your thoughts at school."
Amazon's Prime Day runs from July 12 to 13.
WBZ's Karyn Regal (@karynregal) reports.
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