Often, charities collect canned food, gently used clothing, or money. Senior Leah Quinn, however, had an unconventional idea for donations – bras. After a life-changing mission trip to Haiti last year, Quinn began the project called Lift Up the Girls of Haiti, and although it is not an official charity as of yet, she hopes to turn it into an organization in the near future.

“There’s a ton of charities already that donate used clothing and I realized that none of them donate bras and it’s such a simple necessity,” she said. “In Haiti, everyone is wearing donated clothes and it’s so obvious. They even wear our Halloween costumes, yet people don’t feel comfortable donating bras.”

She decided to do something about it.

“When you go to places like that it makes such a big impact,” said Quinn. “I honestly thought about those people every day and I wanted to be able to do something here.”

And so her project was born. At first she was hesitant to start it, as she was unsure of how people would receive it, but the response has been overwhelming. Quinn has already received around 400 bras from friends, family, and the community. She has a Facebook page for her cause and organizes drives through her church, country club, and Mercy. This is something she says she hopes to continue into her college years and expand to different countries, such as Jamaica, another country she visited on a mission trip.

Although the effort has been a success, it has not been easy. It took months for Quinn to start the movement and even then, she faced many challenges getting the bras to Haiti.

“When you start something like this it’s just amazing because God always makes it work out somehow,” she said. “When I see pictures of the girls receiving the bras and loving them, I know it was all worth it.”