• For the second year in a row, BP employees at the company’s Westlake campus have answered the call to assist underprivileged women by donating older, gently-used suits.
  

The recently completed Send One Suit Week (SOS Week) was a huge success as BP employees donated more than 400 items to Dress for Success, the organization that provides the clothing to disadvantaged women in Houston who use the clothing in interviews and in their careers.

“Dress for Success Houston would like to thank BP for its generous contributions to SOS Week 2010,” said Angelina Spriggs, Dress for Success Store and Inventory Manager at the Dacoma Street site. “BP employees emptied out their closets for the annual suit drive and donated more than 400 suits, blouses, shoes and handbags to Dress for Success Houston!”

BP was one of 90 companies in Houston to participate this year in SOS Week. The BP total of 400 donated suits, blouses, shoes and handbags represents more than a 300 percent increase over the BP donations from 2009.

“The response from BP employees testifies to the compassion BP employees have for others and to the desire to invest in the community where we live and work,” said Robyn Whiteford, BP America administrative assistant who coordinated the BP drive at Westlake. “I’d like to thank everyone who donated as well as the BP Partners who participated by staffing the drive-through, drop-off service available during SOS Week.”

DFS receives 70 percent of its annual inventory during SOS Week, Spriggs said, “so contributions such as BP’s are vital to the organization and to the more than 4,000 women we will serve this year.”

Metzker said women who are “job-ready” (has a job interview) are referred to DFS Houston by any of the numerous member agencies, such as Houston Community College and Texas Workforce Solutions. Women visit one of the DFS Houston stores to find an outfit that will work for interviewing purposes. Once a woman lands a job, the woman can get a second business suit.

For more information on DFS, please visit www.dressforsuccess.org, or call 713.957.3779.