If you know Kendall Deitch, you may know that she ran cross country for three years, that she is currently the senior specialty editor of the Highlander yearbook, and that she serves as the ASTRA meeting chair, but you may not know that she holds the title of Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy in Dallas.

Deitch started Big Sister’s Closet, a charity event which gives 5^th grade girls at Hotchkiss Elementary the opportunity to pick out donated clothes. Deitch selects a team of her closest friends to mentor the girls and help them with their selections.

“I had a bunch of clothes that I didn’t know what to do with and I wanted to do something more meaningful than dropping them off in a bag at Goodwill,” senior Kendall Deitch said.

Big Sister’s Closet began the spring of Deitch’s freshman year and has continued to make an impact ever since. Each year in April, Deitch sends out a text to all her friends asking for any clothes they are willing to donate, and then she begins putting together the “closet” in the library of the Hotchkiss Elementary School for the girls to look through.

“My family works with the Backpack Program at the North Texas Food Bank to provide food for kids at Hotchkiss on the weekends, and I knew they probably needed clothes as well. I contacted the counselor of the school, Ms. Jeff, told her my idea, and we immediately began planning the event,” Deitch said.

On Nov 14, Deitch received the Youth in Outstanding Philanthropy Award at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Dallas Chapter’s National Philanthropy Day luncheon located at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. Awards ranging from Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award to the Outstanding Corporation Award were given, and Deitch took home the youth award for her creation of Big Sister’s Closet.

Deitch got to miss part of her day of school to accept her award, and was even able to bring a few friends along.

“The award banquet was fun for me because I got to see my friend win such an important and prestigious award in Dallas. There were many well-known, political people there from our city. It lasted around two hours and I drove with Annie Dodd to the event while Kendall arrived with her family an hour before we did the reception,” senior Cole Sorrels said.

Big Sister’s Closet provides an easy solution for an embarrassing problem. Girls not only get to pick from a large selection of clothing, but they are also mentored by older girls. Through dancing, music and eating, the students receiving the clothing as well as the volunteer’s, Deitch’s friends, form a relationship, which is far more important than any piece of clothing.