One hand after another, her team unloads the back of her dad’s truck with pounds of clothes waiting to be donated. As the months pass, the loads of clothes become heavier and heavier.

What was once a small hustle grew to an organized operation. 

All Around Hospitality is a nonprofit founded by sophomore Shay Patel with the focus on finding different ways to donate clothing to homeless shelters — the organization accepts donations from people and abandoned clothes from hotels and motels. Since the start of this year, the organization has donated 1,252 pounds of clothing. 

“Every time we go to the shelters, we see people [who] don’t have the proper clothing or the proper resources in general,” Shay said. “Seeing them encourages me and my friends to [continue working].” 

It began as something small — something that she did with her dad. But as she got older, Shay said she realized it could become something that she was fully dedicated to, helping more people. Vice president of All Around Hospitality Shrima Addula first met Shay at the beginning of the year and noticed Shay’s compassion when helping others. 

“She treats people [well] whenever we meet them,” Addula said. ”She expresses what she wants out of this nonprofit and makes it clear to them how much it means to her, and [how] them accepting the clothing feels like she accomplished something.”

Shay’s dad has been managing motels and hotels ever since she was little. When she went to work with him, she would notice all the clothes guests leave behind. Back then, she didn’t have any resources to make a change out of it. 

“Now that I’m in high school, I [realized] I [could] make a difference,” Shay said. “There aren’t many nonprofits around Dallas that [ have the same mission as us], and I’m happy that me and my team are able to start something new.”

In October 2024, Shay approached her close friends and asked if they wanted positions in her organization — taking her first steps into creating the team. With her friends — Addula, historian Mia Bhakta and social media manager Ayusha Paudel — agreeing to join, the nonprofit prepared to donate clothes to shelters in Dallas. 

“[Shay is] very responsible,” Bhakta said. “She makes sure she gets things done at a deadline, and she sets deadlines for [our team], ensuring everything is done on time.” 

One month later, the organization made its first donation: 150 pounds of shoes and clothing for  homeless shelters, “Our Calling” and “The Bridge.” 

“[You’d] think, ‘Oh, I’m cleaning out my closet, [the impact won’t be] much,’” Shay said. “But when you go to the shelters, you can see the [effect] that the [donations have on] the people at the shelters.” 

As the team continued their work, they developed a way to stay organized and consistent. They created graphics to help the team understand their tasks and worked to figure out times when everyone could go to donation drives. 

“It’s really rewarding,” Addula said. “I remember our very first donation drive — seeing [everyone there] and giving 50 pounds of clothing felt like we made something with that day.” 

Since starting the nonprofit, All Around Hospitality has faced financial challenges. Fundraising money became a challenge. However, the team is figuring out ways to do promotions and working with other companies to get more exposure for money.

“There was this big volleyball tournament that we wanted to do,” Bhakta said. “We set up boxes [so people] can come and donate [clothes]. We [also] wanted to partner with other nonprofits — when they have their events, we can [collaborate] and [place our boxes] outside, and [people] can drop off clothes.” 

Shay said she hopes to donate over 5,000 pounds of clothes by her senior year; the team has donated 1,252 pounds so far.

“I want [the nonprofit] to expand farther in Dallas-Fort Worth, but also around the country,” Shay said. “I have high hopes for this. It’s an easy way to give back to the community, so hopefully more people are willing [to carry] the passion like I do.”

This story was originally published on The Hawk Eye on May 6, 2025.