You've heard of Days on the Lawn. Now get ready for Thongs on the Lawn, brought to you by the Baptist Student Union?
That's right -- the BSU is running an "underwear drop" to benefit homeless shelters and the women's prison in Fluvana County. With their neon pink Lawn table and the pair of purple granny panties hanging from the tabletop, they're not hard to miss.
"We get a lot of strange looks when people notice what we're doing," second-year College student Bethany Warren said. "But hopefully the image will stick with them."
In fact, according to BSU President Abby Thornton, it already has made an impact.
"It makes people smile, especially when they see the granny panties," Thorton said. "We need all the publicity we can get, since people don't typically carry underwear around with them."
The BSU, which will distribute the underwear to those in need through the Albemarle Baptist Association, put together the underwear drop at the suggestion of one of its members.
"One of the girls in our group worked with the homeless this summer and realized there was a big need for underwear because people couldn't afford it," Thorton said. "This drive started out as something for the homeless, but we added the women's prison so we could meet two needs with one drive."
Passers-by may make a donation by dropping a pair of new underwear through a make-shift basketball hoop strung with the infamous purple granny panties. The underwear then falls into a box under the table.
So what kinds of underwear are under there?
"So far, we have mostly men's briefs, but we need all kinds, especially cotton underwear for women and children," Thorton said. "There's a lot of really special underwear out there, although my personal favorite is the purple granny panties on the hoop."
Warren, however, prefers a large pair of recently-donated men's briefs with the words "Big Yank" on the elastic waistband.
"They're a little sketchy," Warren admitted. "But they're nothing like the leopard print thong someone donated."
With the bright pink flyers and chalkings around Grounds advertising Thongs on the Lawn, one might think there would be more than just one thong donation.
"We need thongs too because some people like them," Warren said. "They're just not as practical as regular cotton underwear."
Although today is the last opportunity to bring underwear donations by the BSU Lawn Table, donations can still be made until Friday at the Union, located on Jefferson Park Avenue next to Student Health.
"We've gotten some weird looks, because people are used to seeing coat and blanket drives for the homeless," Warren said. "But underwear is so fundamental."
Perhaps the stares come from people who are surprised to see Baptist students collecting leopard-print thongs.
"There are so many stereotypes about being Baptist or Christian, but we need underwear just as much as anyone," Warren said. "We wear it too."
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