As Chattanooga residents braved the worst winter storm in nearly 20 years this winter, some of those who found emergency winter clothing have a 13-year old Signal Mountain girl to thank for helping them keep warm.

Jordyn, an eighth-grader at Signal Mountain Middle School, had visited Hope for the Inner City last November to take part in a neighborhood service project with Disciple Now, the youth ministry of Chattanooga’s First Baptist Church. This trip acted as a catalyst for what would be Jordyn’s own service project, a clothing drive that would collect 104 coats and 123 sets of gloves, scarves and hats, just before the weather took a turn for the worst.

As temperatures began dropping on Signal Mountain later that month, Jordyn’s thoughts turned to the East Chattanooga neighborhoods where Hope for the Inner City ministers, and to the men, women and children who might not be able to afford winter clothes.

With them in mind, Jordyn decided to act. “She came home one day in late November and said she wanted to do [the drive],” says her father, Jeff Parker, Minister of Music and Worship at First Baptist Church. “She went to a couple teachers and then called the principal to ask.”

Jeff and his wife Jenny, an accompanist on piano in the music department at UTC, soon found their living room transformed to resemble the inventory room of a clothing store. Before long, their whole family had joined the project.  “[Jordyn] brought these big boxes home, covered them with wrapping paper and put signs on them,” says Jeff. “And the three of us [Jeff, Jenny and Jordyn’s sister Jocelyn] helped put the boxes together.”

Jordyn also got to work promoting the drive. “She got fliers and made an announcement at school,” says Jeff. “Her classmates really responded well to it.”

She was soon joined by a small army of volunteers from Signal Mountain Middle School. As the idea spread, a coat offering was also set up for an upcoming school football game. By the close of the drive, hundreds of clothing items had been donated, as well as boxes of food and canned goods.

Jordyn credits the generous support of her community with making the drive a success. “I had a lot of people from my school help me out,” she says. “It wasn't just my effort. [It was] everybody from Signal Mountain.”