Marcus Blassingame, a bar mitzvah student at Temple Beth Sholom, is a proud Afro-Latino Jew whose dad is a fashion stylist and editor. So it seemed a natural fit that his mitzvah project would start at donating his time to The Clothes Cabin in Chandler.
Then he wanted to take things to a different level. “I love the idea of donating clothes to needy teens, but the clothing is usually out of style. Why not create new for them to proudly wear?” says Blassingame. With that in mind, Marcus launched a T-shirt fashion line for his b’nai mitzvah project called Apparel Insight. Marcus wanted to help clothe needy middle school kids in the East Valley area. T-shirts will be distributed by The Clothes Cabin. Those who donate $25 or more will receive a personal T-shirt as well as provide shirt donations.
Blassingame has worked very hard at getting his project off the ground, and he learned that while his goal was to make the recipients happy, he felt a tad bit sad “that we haven’t gotten the donations as fast as we wanted to meet our goal, but people are still responding and being generous enough to donate. And when the kids are happy with their shirts, I’ll be very happy.” Marcus’s bar mitzvah was Sept. 28. Marcus says his project is ongoing. He had some words of advice for those who are at the point of choosing their own mitzvah project: “I would say you should try two things and then carry on with what they decide. I didn’t just decide on making shirts at first. I was washing, drying and folding clothes for the needy when I realized the clothes they were giving out were out of style. So be careful about what you choose.”
His mom, LeTia Ladino, says, “Marcus is a huge fan of fashion and wanted to help needy kids.”
