Christmas is a time when some people drop a dollar or two in the Salvation Army bucket or try to help out those less fortunate in other ways, but a three-year-old clothing company founded by two college freshmen is going above and beyond that: This Christmas, their young company is giving away $50,000 in new clothes to three organizations dedicated to helping adults and kids unlikely to get much at Christmas.
Meripex Apparel is donating a total of $50,000 worth of shorts, pants, and dresses to Open Door Ministries in High Point, the Boys and Girls Club of High Point, and the Main Street Mission in China Grove.
On Sunday, Dec. 23 – after a five-day process of packing up and donating the new clothes – Josh Jackson, a co-founder of the company that specializes in khaki shorts, said he’s very pleased the young company is in a position to do something like this. He said that, in addition to trying to make “fun” clothing that people can afford, he and his business partner, Grayson Haff, want the company to be a positive force in the community.
“We hope that the clothing donated can be enjoyed by those less fortunate this Christmas holiday,” he said.
In 2015, Jackson, who’s from High Point and graduated from Ledford High School in Thomasville, was a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when he and Haff, from China Grove, started the clothing company that’s obviously been doing well given the size of the Christmastime donation.
Haff said he was just glad that the two, through the company, were able to do this and he encouraged others to do what they can every Christmas as well.
“It’s always important to remember where you come from and to help out your community,” Haff said on the eve of Christmas Eve. “We’re blessed to have the opportunity to give back this season and hope it helps out.”
