UIC's SPARK organization (Students Performing Acts of Random Kindness) donated over 1,000 new items of clothing to the Pacific Garden Mission.

SPARK, established in 2014 to help fight hunger and homelessness in the Chicago community, made its biggest one-time donation of clothing with the help of several athletics department staff members.  Forty-six boxes of brand new men's dress shirts and winter coats were loaded into a Pacific Garden van for the short trip from UIC's Physical Education Building to Pacific Garden's facility on South Canal Street.

"SPARK received donations of over 1,000 dress shirts last year.  We handed out about 150 of them, but thought it would be more effective to give them to a place that can reach the most people the fastest," said Flames tennis player Alvaro de la Fuente, one of SPARK's team leaders.

"It is nice to give back to the school and community which is supporting us a lot with scholarships and opportunities for education," de la Fuente continued.  "It's also nice to get a positive reaction from people when you help them out, with the hope they will be inspired and reciprocate to others with acts of kindness."

Pacific Garden Mission has come to the aid of the homeless since 1877.  It meets the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of men, women, and children by providing meals and shelter, as well as through programs designed to combat addiction.  Learn more by visiting their website, www.pgm.org.