The Los Angeles Rams and PacSun teamed up with Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to host an exclusive shopping experience for students at George Washington Carver Middle School and Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School. In support of Partnership's efforts to combat chronic absenteeism in historically under-resourced communities the initiative, "Geared for Greatness," rewarded students with fashionable gear.
Rams Cheerleaders and Rampage guided students through the shopping experience, serving as personal stylists and providing their fashion recommendations. Incentivizing attendance at these schools and other Partnership schools across Los Angeles is part of the effort to empower students to be present to learn. "Geared for Greatness" showed students that attending school and working hard in the classroom pays off.
PacSun offers emerging brands and trending fashion that the youth were eager about. When asked what she thought of the Rams coming to her school with new clothes, Luz Rivera, eighth-grader at Carver Middle School said, "It's really cool, I really appreciate it that the Rams came and gave us clothes and let us talk to them." PacSun also delivered merchandise to 18 LA Unified schools back in February through Partnership.
COMMUNITY PHOTOS: Rams & PacSun hand out clothes to students in LA for Geared for Greatness campaign
Witness the collaborative efforts of the Los Angeles Rams and PacSun in creating the Geared for Greatness initiative—a program aimed at providing LA youth with new clothes while combating absenteeism in schools. Take a look through photos of Rams Cheerleaders, mascot Rampage, Rams staff, and numerous volunteers as they support the Geared for Greatness clothing drive and connect with local youth.
Dr. Sharlyn Williams, Assistant Principal at Carver Middle School, thought the event motivated students for the future. "This is giving our students something to aspire to. You know that there is a Rams student at Carver Middle School, there's someone that's going to be ready and right for that organization. So, this is the opportunity to bridge the gap between what is happening in the inner city and the possibilities that there are." Williams emphasized her excitement for the students as the event showed that they can do something special despite challenges they have faced growing up.
"A lot of time students don't have access to clean clothing or new clothing," said Bianca Graves, Rams Senior Manager of Partnership Marketing. "Through this partnership with PacSun, we were able to bring that to life to them at their school and make it more accessible for them and their parents." She went on to emphasize that in addition to administrators and community supporting them, the Rams and PacSun also were there to support the youth.
Graves touched on the importance of students being able to have the resources they need to achieve their goals and feeling confident in the clothes they are wearing ties directly into that. The impact of the event was shown through the words of Williams, "It just means that someone saw them, someone took the time to articulate the fact that they matter, that they are important, that they are going to be someone special in life."
Prior to the 2022 season, the Rams and PacSun renewed their partnership centered around incentivizing attendance at Partnership schools in Watts, South LA and Boyle Heights. Since 2019, PacSun and the Rams have donated $2 million in product to provide new, on-trend clothing to the 13,500 Los Angeles Unified School students served by the Partnership. Graves emphasized the Rams are proud to continue this work for years to come.
To learn more about the Rams' community efforts, please visit www.therams.com/community.
