SoLehi Junior Wants You to INTERACT with Homeless Teens

If you walk into the , make sure you bring an extra pair of jeans. At least that's what Jacob Cummings is hoping. Cummings, a junior at , is collecting jeans as part of the INTERACT Club's "Teens for Jeans" campaign.

"One in three homeless people is under the age of 18," says Cummings. "There's a constant need for jeans for these teens and kids." The campaign, which runs till Feb. 12, is collecting jeans at the Inside Scoop, the High School and Middle School, and in the . If you bring old jeans to Aeropostale, the store will credit you with a 25% discount towards your next pair of jeans.

The INTERACT Club is new to Southern Lehigh this year. Brought to the district by current HS senior Caitlin Sheets, the Rotary-sponsored club's website states the main aim is to "teach students the importance of"

• Developing leadership skills and personal integrity
• Demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others
• Understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work
• Advancing international understanding and goodwill

Helping the community is not new to Cummings. He's also a member of the Key Club, the National Honor Society, and student council. He runs track and is on the high school soccer team.

Cummings is also an active participant in the teen counseling program, which he has a definite passion for. "Our mission statement is to band together and live our lives without the influence of drugs and alcohol. We talk to the younger kids [in the district]."

He jokes that in his "spare time" he works at both White Orchid Thai Restaurant and the Inside Scoop."I'm busy, and I know that I'm busy, but I like to be well-rounded. It's not that I have to make some huge impact. Helping one person is enough." His mother Helene Cummings agrees. "He works hard for everything he gets, but he's able to keep it together."

Teens for Jeans is the INTERACT Club's first official campaign. Cummings, who was just elected president of the club, promises this is just the beginning.

"We're already planning our next projects. We'd like to work on an international program, like bringing bikes to Cambodia with the 'Caring for Cambodia' program. I'd like this club to become one that everyone [in the district] recognizes. Because eveyone honestly can make a difference. People focus on the negative a lot, but generally students at the school have the attitude they want to be a part of something."

Cummings challenges the Southern Lehigh community to be a part of something too.

INTERACT's "Teens for Jeans" program runs from now till Feb. 12.