Wichita State students clear out Old Navy to spread Christmas warmth

Old Navy stores in Wichita were offering a great deal the day before Christmas Eve: All micro fleece hats, gloves and scarves were only $1.

But stocking stuffer hunters didn’t get any of the goods. Both Wichita Old Navy stores, plus the one in Salina, were wiped out of those wearables by some Wichita State University students hoping to spread some Christmas warmth.

The students, all members of WSU’s Greek community, bought every last one of the $1 items in the three stores and spent Christmas Eve distributing them to people in need around Wichita.

“I feel like it was more beneficial to me, in a way, being able to see and touch,” said Dane Laughlin, the WSU junior who organized the giveaway. “I feel like we remove ourselves from that, and to be able to immerse yourself in it is pretty amazing.”

Laughlin, a biomedical engineering major who also is the president of WSU’s Interfraternity Council, said he got the idea after seeing an ad for the Old Navy sale.

“I thought, ‘Man, that’s a really good deal, but I don’t know if I really need a hat,’ ” Laughlin said. “Then it kind of dawned on me that there are a lot of people out there that could use that kind of stuff, given that it had been zero degrees outside.”

Laughlin, one of 70 members of WSU’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, posted his plan on a Facebook group of WSU Greeks, which is followed by about 900 people.

He set up a Square Cash account, where Greek members could pledge money toward the drive online, and in less than an hour, he had enough money to purchase 300 $1 items. Laughlin drove first to the Old Navy at Towne East Square and bought all the scarves, hats and gloves they had. Then he went to NewMarket Square and did the same. The next day, he drove to Salina and cleared out the shelves there, too. If the items had been regular price, he said, the total would have been about $3,000.

Impressed by his plan, the Old Navy stores gave Laughlin an extra 10 percent off his purchases and even loaded him up with leftover coats from a recent coat drive they’d held.

“It blew up a lot bigger than I thought it would,” he said.

Laughlin then gathered a group of about five fraternity and sorority members, loaded up the goods and headed to downtown Wichita.

They stopped at the Lord’s Diner, where one patron was so happy to receive his new scarf and gloves, he gave everyone hugs.

They also passed out items in Naftzger Memorial Park on Douglas. One man there told the group he had a 6-year-old daughter, and they were able to give him a coat, scarf and gloves that would fit her.

The Greeks had so many items, they couldn’t find enough people to give them to on Christmas Eve. They plan to make another round after the holidays.

Laughlin said the drive went so well, he’s hoping to do it again – maybe when Old Navy puts its flip-flops on sale in the summer.

“They (the recipients) were all very kind,” he said. “I think the coolest part was that when we first walked up to them, they were guarded. But when you start giving them scarves, you see all that hesitance melt away. It was a really cool thing to sit down and have a conversation about what they’ve been doing, how the holidays go for them and their plans going forward.”

This story was originally published December 25, 2016 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Wichita State students clear out Old Navy to spread Christmas warmth."