Teens raise money for homeless with fashion show
'I think it's phenomenal. I give credit to these young children to be thinking so deeply about the needs of people.' - Dana Hite Winston-Salem resident

At first glance, they appear to have little in common: students modeling the latest fashions and, just a few miles away, dozens of homeless men and women walking the streets.

But the high school and college students walking down the runway are more than friends of fashion. The youth group from Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., is raising money for the Love Thy Neighbor ministry, which holds block parties for the homeless.

"We began calling it Love Thy Neighbor out of the Matthew passage that says, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,'" said Lisa Waugh, 18, a high school senior in charge of the second annual Friends for Fashion show held at a local country club.

The shows raise about $10,000 a year for the outreach.

Waugh and two friends from the Centenary youth group started Love Thy Neighbor after a lifechanging mission trip to San Francisco. They worked alongside volunteers from Glide Memorial United Methodist Church to help the homeless, and they brought the vision back home.

"Most of the kids were from very affluent families, middleto upper-class white families, and we were used to going to school with people who were very much like us," Waugh said. "After Glide, we came back and were like, there is actually a serious problem and it's literally right outside our door. We have to do something."

The students came up with the idea of holding block parties on the church grounds to serve meals to the homeless. They also play games, hand out socks and toiletries, and get to know their neighbors.

"We have developed relationships with them," said Lindsay Rothrock, 18, a college student who helped start Love Thy Neighbor. "A couple of them have actually joined our church now. There's one man who comes and helps us set up; he helps us to run the block parties."

About 80 people attended the first monthly block party, and attendance has since grown to around 200. The program is being expanded to twice a month.

"It touches my heart," says Robert Wooten, a homeless person. "I'm not a bad person. I've had difficulties in my life. But it really touches my heart that young people care enough about people to try to help."

Wooten says he owned a cardetailing business in Florida that closed due to an economic downturn. He moved to Winston-Salem to be closer to his hometown but has not been able to find a job.

Ann Bennett Thomas, the third teen who started Love Thy Neighbor, said the ministry also tries to address misperceptions about the homeless.

"People get the wrong idea about homeless people, and they think that they're just bums that have nothing to do, (nothing) good to do with their lives," she said. "But a lot of them have just hit one spot in the road that just tears apart their whole life. And they're just trying to slowly build it back."

Those attending the fashion show also applaud the youth group's efforts.

"I think it's phenomenal," says WinstonSalem resident Dana Hite. "I give credit to these young children to be thinking so deeply about the needs of people."

Reaching out to the homeless is also shaping the future plans for the ministry's founders.

Rothrock is a freshman at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. She is majoring in human and organizational development and hopes to work for a nonprofit organization after she graduates.

Thomas is attending Clemson University in South Carolina and volunteers at a community center that serves the homeless.

Waugh plans to sign up for as many mission programs as she can while attending college and wants to join the Peace Corps.

"Honest to God, it has been better for me than it has for anyone that we've ever served," Waugh said. "It showed me my passion, and it has showed me what I need to do with my life, and now I know. And it feels good knowing that you have a purpose."

Story written by John Gordon and provided by Worldwide Faith News.