Elaine Birks-Mitchell MAOL99 (left) and co-founder Johnny Mitchell, Jr. (right) prepare donations to send to LA. Photos courtesy of Elaine Birks-Mitchell MAOL99
As soon as Elaine Birks-Mitchell MAOL99 heard about the tens of thousands of people displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires in January, she knew she had to do something. When people have lost their homes and all of their possessions, the list of essentials can be overwhelming. Knowing that, Birks-Mitchell focused her donations on a necessity that often gets overlooked: bras and underwear.
As the founder of , a textile recycling company, and its nonprofit arm, , Birks-Mitchell has filled a niche by providing people in need with bras and underwear and combating hygiene poverty. The Undie Chest donates underwear to homeless shelters, foster care youth, Title I students, and survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and breast cancer, as well as victims of disasters like the LA wildfires.
This is what we do, she said. When we heard about the fires, I was like, oh my goodness, they lost everything. So my mind right away went to, they need underwear.
Along with Johnny Mitchell, Jr., Birks-Mitchell started The Bra Recyclers back in 2008 and later formed The Undie Chest. Based out of Arizona, they serve organizations locally and nationally. In 2023, she was recognized for her work with the Inspired Adult Leadership Award at the 2023 Arizona Governors Volunteer Service Awards.
The Undie Chest was my way of trying to give back, said Birks-Mitchell about the award. Its about saying, Im going to make a conscious decision to invest in my own community and in the people in that community."
Though clean underwear is a basic daily necessity for everyone, its not something that people always think about when it comes to donations for disaster relief and when it is, the donations are not always good quality.
A lot of times when things like this happen, people will just send anything, Birks-Mitchell explained. It's kind of a dumping ground. So that's why a lot of organizations don't take bras or underwear, because they just want new [ones]. Bras can be gently used在ut underwear, absolutely, positively has to be new.
Shelters and programs that distribute donations dont always have the capacity to sort through everything they receive to pick out whats acceptable. Because they can provide high-quality, useful donations, organizations like the Undie Chest serve an important role.
They're gonna get clothes, there's lots of that, but we know that many of these organizations [providing relief] don't have the budget to buy underwear, Birks-Mitchell said. So as soon as we heard that, I was like, I need to jump into gear here. It took a little while to find good contacts, but once we got that contact, I was like, okay, how can we help you? What can we get out to you? We've got to do something because I know this is a big need.&紳莉莽梯;
She connected with vetted community organizations in the LA area, including and , who directly serve those affected. The Undie Chest recently sent off the first shipment of donations with close to 1,000 items bras and both adult and childrens underwear. The Undie Chest is still accepting donations of new and gently used bras and new underwear, along with monetary donations, for those affected by the fires, and plans to continue their support as long as there is a need.
It's not a one-time thing, Birks-Mitchell said. They're gonna need help for a while. Even though you might not see it in the news every day now, it's still a big deal.&紳莉莽梯;