Underwear Sunday to Take Place at St. Stephen Catholic Church

Wanted: boxers, briefs and bikinis.

On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 1-2, St. Stephen Catholic Church parishioners and other residents of the area are invited to bring new packages of boys' and girls' underwear to the church at 5049 Bell Shoals Road, Valrico, to give to underprivileged children in local elementary schools.

St. Stephen deacon, Rick Zeitler, started the underwear drive in 2002 after working on a fundraiser for Palm River Elementary School.

"I'd read a newspaper article that talked about four schools going from an F grade to an A, and one of them was Palm River," said Zeitler. "As a reward, then-Gov. Jeb Bush and NASA was going to send 30 of the students to the Kennedy Space Center. I felt that all the students deserved to go so I asked the principal at Palm River how much it would cost. She told me $20,000 so we began a fund drive."

Among the organizations that got involved in raising funds was the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Zeitler said a captain with the sheriff's office noted that the project was near and dear to her heart because she'd grown up poor and didn't own a pair of underwear until she was 13 years old.

"I was speechless," said Zeitler. "Here was this well-educated professional woman who didn't own a pair of underwear until she was 13. Underwear shouldn't be a luxury. It's a necessity.

"I already knew from my wife, Laura, who was a teacher at Valrico Elementary School, that there are many kids who come to school each day with no underwear," said Zeitler. "So we'd been buying underwear for students for years. But that captain's comment really struck a nerve."

After raising the $20,000 to send all the Palm River students to the space center, Zeitler approached the Rev. Pat Irwin, then pastor at St. Stephen, about launching an underwear drive at the church for needy children in elementary schools.

"That first year, we collected 3,000 pairs of underwear for Palm River, Kenly and Valrico elementary schools," said Zeitler. "The principals loved it."

With the help of Bloomingdale East resident and parishioner Pam Stamey, Zeitler continued the underwear drive the following year, adding Clair-Mel Elementary School.

"Then, the next year, we jumped to six schools," said Zeitler, "adding Gibsonton and Ruskin. The goal was to give each school enough underwear to get them through the school year."

Underwear, noted Zeitler, isn't something the schools typically have donated.

"Every year we collect shoes, backpacks and school supplies, but most people don't consider giving underwear," he said. "It's the teachers that end up buying underwear for the kids out of their own pockets. It's a need that never gets talked about. Our goal is to alleviate the burden on the teachers. This is a little thing we can do. And it makes such a big difference. A kid with a new pair of Spiderman underwear walks into school with his head up, grinning from ear to ear."

He added that purchasing a package of underwear or two isn't a burden on the parishioners.

"We even get the kids involved," he said. "I've got four students who did a neighborhood collection."

Over the past seven year, the Underwear Sunday drive has collected 80,651 pairs of underwear and sports bras.

"The most we collected in a year was 10,619," said Zeitler. "I'm hoping for at least that many this year. We now donate to 12 schools and I have three more that have asked for donations."

Current pastor, the Rev. William Swengros, suggested that they pile the underwear around the Blessed Mary statue in the sanctuary so parishioners could see the amount collected.

After the collection, Stamey and other volunteers sort the sizes and deliver the underwear to the schools. Monetary donations are used to buy sizes that they're lacking.

"Pam's got it down to a science," Zeitler said. "She knows just how many pairs each school needs."

Then, it's up to the teachers to distribute them throughout the year.

"Teachers are pretty good social workers," he said. "They can identify the kids who are in need."

This year's collection will take place before and after each Mass this weekend. For more information, call 813-689-4900.