After watching a viral YouTube video about a homeless veteran getting a free transformation makeover, Andalusia High School senior Rexanne Butler teamed up with classmates Gill Morgan and Andrew Holmes for their senior research project. The three will hold a First Impressions Clothing Drive this Saturday at The Mission Building.

The assignment, Be the Change!, requires students to complete projects related to their research topics. The students must volunteer for a cause for eight hours, or raise a minimum of $80, or some combination of the two.

“At the beginning of the project, Mrs. Thompson had us watch videos on YouTube, and we watched one of this homeless veteran getting a complete makeover,” Butler said. “The man was able to get a house, job and other things like that all because of the way that he presented himself.”

Morgan said that by giving people the right clothing, they can have a sense of confidence.

“With better clothes people can get out there and look decent,” Morgan said. “They will be able to apply for jobs and carry themselves with confidence and know that they can succeed in something.”

Butler said that their project is unique because it gives them a chance to reach out to the community.

“It will give us an opportunity to meet new faces,” Butler said. “We can reach out to people we wouldn’t see everyday and we could be able to accomplish new things.”

Morgan said that this project hits close to home for him.

“My dad, Phillip Morgan, is the pastor at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church and we have The Mission Building where everything is a dollar,” Morgan said. “It started as a yard sale that we would have every year, but seeing the impact that it had on a lot of peoples’ lives, we decided to keep it going. Just seeing that people were able to get not only cheap, but quality items, and seeing them happy that they were able to get these things that will help with their lives is amazing.”

Each of the students has to write a research paper on a topic based on their service project. Butler’s paper will be on how people present themselves.

“How you present yourself helps you with getting a job,” Butler said. “It can help with what employers are looking for so that is why I wanted to write it on that. Basically what to do and not to do.”

Morgan will write his paper on single parent families and the cost of clothing.

“It is really hard for a single parent to get the essential needs for their children,” Morgan said. “The cost of some of the stuff they need is ridiculous, so they can go into The Mission Building or come to our First Impression Clothing Drive and get all the things that they need at a cheap price.”

Holmes’ paper will be on gang life.

“If you think about it, if you’re in a gang, you don’t have time to go get clothes or furniture that you need,” Holmes said. “If you have something such as The Mission Building, you can go in there and buy decent clothes for your children.”

The group is accepting donations of gently-used clothes until this Sat., Nov. 3, and the drive will be from 8 a.m., until noon.

“We already have clothes at The Mission Building,” Morgan said. “So if you are looking to get clothes we will be able to do that as well.”

Anyone interested in donating clothes to the First Impressions Clothing Drive can take the clothes to The Mission Building, loated on the corner of River Falls and Church streets, next to the old Coca-Cola plant, or to the school for Mrs. Dawn Thompson.