ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Old…new…skinny…boot leg…hipsters.

Doesn’t matter what kind, size or color but area schools are collecting gently used jeans through Sunday, February 13 for Aeropostale and DoSomething.org Fourth Annual “Teens for Jeans” drive.

According to DoSomething.org’s website, one out of every three homeless people in the United States are under 18 and 1.6 to 1.7 million people under 18 will experience homelessness each year.

And for that reason, Robertsdale High School’s Omega Tau girl’s service club is heading up the drive and has collected around 1,000 pairs so far from several Central Baldwin schools and community organizations, said Teresa Bryant, RHS principal.

The jeans will be donated to local homeless shelters and the school who collects the most jeans will receive $5,000 for their school and a party hosted by Aeropostale for the entire school, according to the DoSomething.org website.

“This is a really great cause and it gets the kids involved in something good for the community. Allows them to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Everyone has jeans they can donate,” said Bryant.

Even though the deadline for Aeropostale is Sunday, Bryant said they will be accepting jeans on Monday, February 14 as well. “We have to get them boxed up by Tuesday because that’s when the store will be picking them up so we are giving everyone an extra day. We want to get as many as we can.”

And as an incentive for bringing in a pair, Bryant allowed the students to have an out of uniform day on Friday and wear jeans.

Tresa Carey, Omega Tau’s sponsor, said the drive began last Monday, January 25, and she has been very pleased with the outcome. “This is a great cause and I encourage everyone to bring in their jeans.”

“We have been counting and boxing up jeans every day for a two hours. I didn’t think we would get that many at first but have been amazed at how many we have gotten. What a great thing,” said Samantha Shambo, Omega Tau president.

Dominique Garrett, another Omega Tau member, agreed with Shambo. “This is a really good cause. It’s all about helping someone.”

Other members who were counting and boxing included Jessica Weaver and Dustie Glass.

Micha Dudley, Assistant manager for the Aeropostale store located at the Tanger Outlet Center in Foley, said jeans can also be dropped off there. And everyone who brings in a pair of jeans will receive a 25 percent off coupon on a new pair of jeans.

“For every pair of jeans a person brings in, they will receive a coupon. This is the fourth year our store has participated in this cause and our company goal is to collect one million pair and it looks like we may do it. We will also donate 10,000 new pair of jeans to the shelters as well,” Dudley said.

Last year, the store collected 500 pair and they have more than doubled that already this year, Dudley said. “Our Pensacola store collected 5,000 pair last year and we would love to be able to do that."

Bryant hopes next year they will be able to donate all the jeans to local charities like Catholic Social Services in Robertsdale.

Sadly, the reasons for teen homelessness are mainly due to family conflicts or severe economic hardships and according to the website, studies estimate that “20 percent of youth who arrive at shelters came directly from foster care, and more than 25 percent have been in foster care in the previous year. They age out of foster care and are discharged with no housing or income support.”

Other causes include abuse, substance abuse in the home, substance abuse in the home, pregnancy, sexual orientation, unaffordable housing, neglect and mental illness.

And the effects of teen homelessness are just as grim with the main ones being instability, physical health, violence and lack of education, said the website.

Because of having no permanent address, it makes it “virtually impossible to attend school, obtain employment, secure food and shelter and basically survive.“ Due to poor diet, malnutrition and exposure to the elements, homeless youth are at a greater risk of suffering from chronic health disorders like asthma and diabetes,” said the website.

Homeless teens are also at a greater risk for AIDS and STD’s (Sexual Transmitted Diseases) because they have traded sex for clothes, food and shelter for survival One in 260 homeless youths will die from an act of violence this year and about one third will attempt suicide, according to statistics.

They also lack the self-sufficiency skills needed to function in society and also experience many learning disabilities that prevent them from getting decent jobs.

For all these reasons, DoSomething.org is trying to ease the burden a small bit by donating jeans and last year clothed one-third of the youth homeless population by collecting 625,000 pairs of jeans. And 200,000 pair went to Haiti youth, according to the website.

But the organization is involved in many more causes than just donating jeans.

Their mission is to “Use the power of the web and pop culture to help young people change the world. Our hope is to create a generation of do-ers, a world where more than 51 percent of young people are involved with community action.”

Through programs like DoSomething University (start your own project or organization through videos from experts) or DoSomething club or seed grants, 1,229, 579 teens took action last year, according to the website.

The largest national database of teen volunteer opportunities in the United States, DoSomething gave $332, 500 directly to young people last year to fund their projects and DoSomething clubs are created everyday numbering 1,400 across the United States.

Grant and scholarship opportunities are available to any group or individual who applies, according to the website. The group or individuals must be 25 or under and be U.S. or Canadian citizens. Grants can be applied for as many times as they want but a group can only win once in a 12 month period.

Two types of grants awarded are Seed Grants ($500) and Club Grants ($250) and are used to start community action projects or programs.

Applicants can go online to apply and one seed grant is given away each week and five club grants a month are given away, the website said.

The grants can’t be used for travel, individual sponsorships, shipping costs, individual school fee or fundraisers. Seed grant applicants have to submit a detailed budget and program overview with their application and a recommendation from a non-family member.

Grant money must be used within six months but group can apply anytime during the year. Winners are notified within two to three months of application.

DoSomething, based out of New York City, has partnered up with national sponsors like VH1, Aeropostale, Pepsi, Best Buy, HP (Hewlett -Packard), Sprint Foundation, Channel One News, Staples, Clean and Clear, Chase and Jet Blue Airways to provide these community project opportunities.

To find out more about this organization, go to DoSomething.org. and don’t forget to gather up those jeans and deliver them to your local school or Aeropostale store near you.