On Sep. 27, Lend-A-Fit, funded by Student Government (SG), opened for student use. Spinnaker interviewed Student Body Vice President Johnny Grosso to discuss the goals and details of Lend-A-Fit. 

Grosso helped plan and design Lend-A-Fit as one of his first initiatives after being inducted during the first week of the Fall semester. As a response to SG understaffing, Grosso recently hired Naomi Gillis as the director of both Lend-A-Fit and Lend-A-Wing. 

The goal of Lend-A-Fit is to help students who may not be able to afford expensive clothing for interviews and other professional requirements. Students can keep the clothing for future professional endeavors. 

The service has a large variety of clothing including but not limited to the following: 

• Jackets
• Shirts
• Pants
• Skirts
• Shoes
• Jewelry and more!

Aside from the current selection, there are more clothing options in storage. A majority of the clothing was donated by Brooks Brothers. 

When speaking about student utilization, Grosso clarified: “[Students will] be able to go through basically each rack and they’ll be able to select one item from it. They can take one suit jacket, pants to match it, a tie, accessories, [and] shoes. ” 

Grosso wants Lend-A-Fit to be an accessible and comfortable experience for all students in need. 

“Students may not necessarily know if they’re food insecure or clothing insecure… I want them to be able to walk in. I want them to be able to meet with our coordinators and our staff that’s trained on that situation being able to make sure they get what they need,” explained Grosso. 

With an easy access location in the Student Union, Lend-A-Fit has become more accessible to students. Ozzie’s Closet was essentially the same service as Lend-A-Fit, but this upgrade allows for better accessibility and more funding. Lend-A-Fit is on the first floor of the east wing along with Lend-A-Wing. 

Currently, Lend-A-Fit can be accessed by appointment only. The service does not plan to have walk-in hours in order to fit specific needs of individual students. 

“I want to leave it as appointment, because I want students to have the one-on-one opportunity to really assess what they need,” Grosso specified.

To market Lend-A-Fit, Grosso plans to utilize Learning Living Communities (LLCs), social media, and SG bulletin boards. 

Working with LLCs will extend assistance to students who will be in professional settings where certain attire is required. Lend-A-Fit had a soft launch as an opportunity for the main educational LLC to access the clothing first. 

Aside from LLCs, Lend-A-Fit wants to reach as many students as possible who need business professional clothing. 

 When expanding his discussion to Lend-A-Wing, Grosso spoke about his ongoing collaboration with UNF Dining Services to help food insecure students. He hopes to continue working with Dining Services to reach as many students as possible with the goal of ultimately making UNF a better place for students. Publix recently made a donation to help Lend-A-Wing. 

As a final thought, Grosso shared: “We’re here to serve. I want them to know that this is not something that is temporary. It’s a long lasting initiative that I am doing my best to establish the framework… Students can rely on this. If they’re ever feeling insecure about not having the clothing they need to advance their professional and academic careers, Student Government is able to provide that for them.”

 To schedule an appointment, email [email protected] or visit their website for more information. 

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