Utah company provides thousands of white shirts for missionaries in Zimbabwe
Feb 6, 2024, 10:13 AM | Updated: 5:13 pm
PROVO — Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Zimbabwe got a special delivery from a Utah company.
It took a labor of love to make sure they were dressed for success.
When you’re sending off your missionary, a must-have on their packing list is a white dress shirt.
Odion Menswear had 22,000 extra on hand and donated them to missionaries serving in South Africa.
“Over the years, we started to have the supply chain issues,” said Braiden Day with Odion Menswear.
Due to those supply chain issues, a surplus of 22,000 dress shirts filled their warehouse.
The company brought in 200 volunteers.
“We had local wards and stakes that helped us repack the stuff to get it all ready to go to help load the donations to South Africa,” Day said. “We found this amazing organization called ‘Eyes for Zimbabwe,’ that helps local missionaries in Zimbabwe.”
Odion has outfitted missionaries in Utah for 12 years and understands how clothes can give them confidence.
“A lot of these kids absolutely don’t need suits, but they need white shirts,” Day said.
In January, their shipment arrived and elders couldn’t wait to try them on.
“I’m thankful for this white nice, wonderful shirt. “I’m so grateful for this shirt. I really appreciate this,” a missionary in Zimbabwe said.
The new shirts allow the missionaries to begin the new year on a new journey with a new look.
“Seeing them feel connected and say, ‘OK I look good,’ and that’s one of our big mantras is look good, feel good, do good,” Day said.
Odion plans to keep paying it forward with your help.
You can drop off gently used suits, shirts and shoes and they’ll work on getting them shipped to missionaries in Africa or here locally.
Click here for more info.
