'It Makes You Feel Important': Philadelphia Job Hunters Get Jump-start On New Year's Resolutions With Suit Giveaway
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Job hunters are getting a jump on their resolutions to find a new job in the new year. The power of attire is empowering local men.
In order to feel like a sharp dressed man, you bring in a sharp, dressed man.
"A lot of the guys come in, they don't know what to make of what we're doing and then they see themselves in the mirror and understand what it's all about," Sharp Dress Man founder Christopher Schafer said.
The Baltimore-based organization provides men without the means a chance to don new duds with a referral.
With the help of Brandon Novak, formally of the prank TV show "Jackass," the group gave away clothing on Sunday in Old City.
"Help is available. People do care, you're not just a name, you're not just a number," Novak said. "Let me ask you how you're doing and more importantly, wait to hear the answer."
Novak himself is a recipient of the group's generosity after his own battle with addiction.
"The opposite of addiction is connection and again the people we're tailoring this event for are newly sober, freshly in recovery that lacks these ways and means," he said.
The group had so many donations it decided to drive up to Philadelphia for its first giveaway.
"You help all these guys and hear stories of people who are just -- they're just trying," Novak said.
"It makes you feel important. It uplifts your spirits," Philadelphia resident Ramon Miller said. "It makes you feel like you can accomplish something."
And for those being measured, trying jackets on, getting haircuts or new shoes, it's the first chance -- or another shot.
"I feel like money. I feel like the man of the world or the man of all people," North Philadelphian Justin Best said. "They compliment you looking all nice and all."