Hamilton sisters start 'Hoodies for the Homeless'

Twin Steinert High School students created the program to benefit Trenton's Rescue Mission.

HAMILTON - While many Americans prepared their Thanksgiving turkeys and geared up for Black Friday shopping, two Steinert High School juniors opted to assist the homeless.

Twins Kelsey and Kylie Amison started "Hoodies for the Homeless" on Nov. 4. Using their school as the drop-off location, the sisters collected new and gently used sweatshirts for the Rescue Mission of Trenton.

Kylie Amison (left) and Kelsey Amison (right) with a box of hoodies for the Trenton Rescue Mission.Courtesy of Amison family 

"We chose hoodies because our thought was the winter will be cold," Kylie Amison said. "Our motto was 'help warm the hearts of the homeless.'"

The day before Thanksgiving, the 16-year-olds delivered "hundreds of hoodies" to the Trenton mission.

"They were really grateful," Kylie Amison said of the people working for the Rescue Mission.

Kylie Amison said back in the beginning of November, she and her sister approached Steinert Principal Nate Webber with their idea and to ask permission to distribute fliers and set up a drop-off bin in the school.

"He loved it," Kylie Amison said. "He said he was very proud of us."

From there, the girls got a donation bin set up in the school's library where a secretary helped watch over it to ensure it would not be tampered with, Kylie Amison said.

"They did everything on their own," Lori Amison, mother of the twins, said.

ALSO: Rescue Mission breaks world record for donated clothing

Lori Amison said eventually Hamilton residents along with the students, faculty and staff of Steinert caught wind of the girls' charity.

"It kind of got out to the neighbors and then everybody started doing it," Lori Amison said. "Even faculty donated tons of hoodies."

She said some of their neighbors dropped off hoodies right to their doorstep.

Kelsey and Kylie Amison said they originally thought up the idea for the charity when starting to apply for college.

A flier Kelsey and Kylie Amison made to distribute to Steinert High School students, faculty and staff for their "Hoodies for the Homeless" program.Courtesy of the Amison family 

Both are active in extracurricular activities including being members of the N.J. District Key Club International and being on The Steinert High School Math Team. They also played soccer for Steinert their first two years of high school, while opting to play exclusively for the Hamilton Wildcats travel team this year.

In addition, Kelsey and Kylie Amison have had perfect school attendance since kindergarten, but said they still felt they needed more for their college resumes.

"We're involved in a lot but we're not the head of anything," Kylie Amison said. "We wanted to have something on our resumes that stands out. We're always helping people so why not help the homeless?"

Kylie Amison said she wants to study psychology and criminal justice in college, while Kelsey Amison wants to study criminology and international relations.

Kylie and Kelsey Amison plan on attending the same college and doing community service together while away but they do not plan to room together. "They want to make a lot of friends," their mom Lori said.

Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.