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BOLIVAR, Mo. 鈥� 欧美视频 students in need of professional wear
as they prepare for their careers or internships can now 鈥渟hop鈥� at 欧美视频鈥檚 Career Closet.
The Career Closet, which is located in the Clark University Success Center on the Bolivar campus, was created by Shonna Fore, director of career services at 欧美视频.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen it done in several area schools, but I'm also a member of NACE 鈥� the National Association for Colleges and Employers. It's where I go to look at a lot of different career service resources,鈥� Fore said. 鈥淚 had known about career closets and so I did a lot of research on it and realized it's a huge need for students. Some of them can鈥檛 afford to buy professional wear or some of them have a last-minute need and they don't know where to get it, especially in Bolivar. Just seeing that there's a need and a desire for our students to be prepared was my goal behind it.鈥�
The Career Closet has been open for less than a month. Fore announced last semester that the Closet would begin accepting donations, and as donations began to trickle in and the inventory began to grow, Fore announced that the Closet was officially open.
鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to take donations year-round,鈥� Fore said. 鈥淩ight now, we have pants, shirts, skirts, suits, ties, belts, shoes 鈥� your basic professional wear. We're not opposed to more business-casual wear, as well, because not every employer requires professional attire. We currently have mainly business professional attire.鈥�
Growing and developing the Career Closet has been a team effort, Fore said.
鈥�
Our facilities department was phenomenal,鈥� Fore said. 鈥淚 asked them for help one day
and they were here. The next day, they put it together for me, which I was very, very
appreciative of. They took my idea and made it happen.鈥�
In addition to the basic items the Closet currently has in stock, other requested items include:
鈥淚f they are local, I'm willing to come pick up donations,鈥� Fore said. 鈥淚f they're not local, or if they don't mind coming here, they can drop off donations here at the office. I have a donation form that they can fill out, and we will get submitted for them.
鈥淚've been telling people, as we go through the donations, if there are things that we can't use we would donate to Community Outreach Ministries (COM), if they are OK with that.鈥�
As Career Services sorts through the donations, Fore鈥檚 student worker helps her determine what students might or might not wear.
鈥淭hat is helpful because while I feel like I know what some of the trends are, our student worker was able to say, 鈥榊es, I think a student would wear this,鈥� or 鈥業 don't think they would wear that,鈥� which was helpful.鈥�
The Career Closet continues to accept donations. For more information on how or what to donate, contact Fore at careerservices@欧美视频niv.edu or (417) 328-1689.
PHOTO: Shonna Fore, director of career services at 欧美视频, sorts through professional attire as part of the Career Closet.
*Published: 4-27-2021