BALTIMORE — They say if you look good, you feel good.
Here at Sharp Dressed Man, those feelings are transformational. Just take a look for yourself.
“I thought you was running for office. You look like the new mayor.”
“Melvin Saunders was one of the first to arrive Wednesday at Sharp Dressed Man's weekly fitting, and he snagged a newly donated suit that fit just right.
“There was a guy here today, and he said, ‘I don't have a wardrobe,’ and that guy ended up getting a cashmere overcoat and a leather jacket and suits,” says Christopher Schafer. “I think he even got his hair cut.”
In the last 14 years, Baltimore native Christopher Schafer’s nonprofit has clothed more than 16,000 men, primarily from job re-entry, recovery, and veterans' programs.
“It's really cool to see the guys when they get suited up and they're looking at themselves in the mirror,” he says. “It's pretty powerful to go and help someone out in that way, where they basically get to go shopping and there's no cash register at the end.”
Most of the items are donated.
There are other expenses, though, something Schafer needs help with. Like the Sharp Dressed Van, a mobile closet that he takes into communities for one-day giveaways, suiting about 250 men at a time. COVID, he says, depleted their coffers.
“We're just trying to go and really have a strong footing with this so we can really grow the organization and stay consistent in what we're doing,” Schafer says. “We've made it through COVID. Now it's time to pick it back up and grow.”
His goal is to raise $100,000 and suit up 20,000 men like Saunders.
“I heard you say this suit makes you feel like…?”
“A millionaire,” Saunders says with a smile.
Saunders says he can't wait for his two daughters and grandchildren to see him in his new suit.
If you'd like to help, go here.
