Did you know you could spruce up your closet and help your community at the same time? Well, you can! West Liberty’s Criminal Justice Society — also known as CJ Society — is currently running a clothing fundraiser for the Ohio Valley K-9 Units.

According to club president, Brittany Smith, 50% of proceeds will go to the K-9 units and be distributed to the following: Marshall and Brooke County Sheriff Offices, and the Wheeling and Martins Ferry Police Departments.

Remaining proceeds will replenish the CJ Society’s account so the club is able to provide resources for future fundraisers and aid them in their annual donation to victims of domestic violence at the Wheeling Young Women’s Christian Associates (YWCA).

“This fundraiser will greatly help the community by providing additional funds to local police departments’ K-9 units to better equip them for the work that they do. In addition, this fundraiser will be beneficial to the WLU CJ society because it allows our members the opportunity to make connections within the community and better our community outreach efforts,” explained Smith.

The clothing being sold includes a variety of military green t-shirts, crewnecks, long sleeve shirts and hoodies with “WL Criminal Justice” printed on the front and “honor the paws that defend the laws” printed on the back. Pricing varies depending on item purchased and are as follows: t-shirts ($12), long sleeve shirts ($15), crewnecks ($20), and hoodies( $25).

All orders and money are due by March 5. If you are interested in participating in this fundraiser, please contact the following members of the CJ Society: Bethany Morrison ([email protected]), Austin Gray ([email protected]), Katelyn Carnot ([email protected]), Ryan Kozik ([email protected]) or Smith at ([email protected]).

Due to COVID-19, members would like to limit the number of people receiving orders at one given time. Please allow two to four weeks for the orders to be processed, organized and distributed by members of the society. “It is the responsibility of the club member who sold the shirt(s) to deliver or make arrangements to distribute the items they sold,” Smith explains.

The criminal justice society is an academic and professional club stirving to educate members and get involved in community service projects. If you are interested in joining the society, please email Smith [email listed above] and she will send you all information about the club. Currently, the society is meeting via Zoom. Any major is welcome to join according to Smith who says, “We are happy to broaden our horizons and welcome all majors!”

For updates about future CJ Society events and fundraisers, please follow their instagram page at cj_society_wlu. If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact Annalise Murphy at [email protected].