Laney Deffendoll's mission to reduce waste and help those in need
Service was a core principle instilled within alumna Laney Deffendoll (’24) from an early age. Even if her family was not serving others monetarily, they were always looking for other ways to help those in need, even if the act was as simple as taking leftovers to the house next door with six children to feed and not enough money in their pocket to do so.
This spirit of service traveled with her from Newburg, Kentucky to Nashville when she attended Belmont in the fall of 2020. The first time Deffendoll set foot on campus, she made her way over to the former BruinShop location on the corner of 17th Ave. S and Belmont Blvd., as many students do. Immediately after exiting the bookstore, she felt the desire to work there during her student tenure at Belmont.
Deffendoll applied and began her first shift at the BruinShop shortly thereafter where she would remain for three years, facilitating store logistics, designing merchandise and coordinating photoshoots with store models. As much as she loved her job, one element of her day-to-day continued to plague her — clothes that were out of season or no longer available for purchase, simply collecting dust and occupying room in their designated quarters.
“I just remember thinking, ‘why do we have so much extra backstock that hasn’t been on the floor in months?’” Deffendoll recounted. “We already didn’t have enough space at that location in general, especially when so much extra clothing was taking up backstock space.”
In that moment, Reclaimed & Reborn was conceptualized.
“It became a dream of mine to give excess inventory to people who need it instead of letting it go to the landfill or sitting on the shelves collecting dust.”
The Planning Stage
To shift her newfound initiative into first gear, Deffendoll crafted a pitch that defined the goals, procedures and data necessary to earn the support of BruinShop Operational Manager Jennings Carter. With Carter on board, Deffendoll knew her effort could scale quickly and extend to other members of the Belmont community.
After all, Deffendoll not only wished to donate the shop’s backstock stockpile, but also encourage students to donate new or gently used clothing as well. She even proposed Belmont offer WELL-Core credit to students for their donations. 
Perhaps the most pivotal piece of her pitch was discerning where the donations could make the greatest impact on the people who need it most. After researching, deliberating and discussing donation prospects, Deffendoll decided the people in greatest need of clothing were those experiencing houselessness within the Nashville community. With this top of mind, she chose the Nashville Rescue Mission as the recipient of the donations.
“Getting a price tag put on the clothes at a place like Goodwill is great, and those clothes can definitely help someone else and provide them with a great experience — and it’s always nice to get some money back,” continued Deffendoll. “But how much more is it worth knowing that they are going to help somebody create a new life — a new journey for themselves? That was the mission that stuck with me since the day that I started Reclaimed & Reborn.”
Lastly, her project needed a name. After several hours of brainstorming alongside her boyfriend, Bryce, and with the power of the Canva design suite at her fingertips, Deffendoll settled on Reclaimed & Reborn and created her accompanying logo.
The Execution Phase
Her presentation was met with overwhelming support by Gardner and donation bins quickly found their way inside the BruinShop, a location that became the centralized drop-off hub for Reclaimed & Reborn. From there, she began marketing and amplifying the mission of Reclaimed & Reborn across campus.
Deffendoll began her Belmont journey as a commercial voice major before pivoting to a communications studies degree with a minor in education. Calling on her degree and digital media internship experience with Belmont, she quickly began implementing learned practices via social media, external communications and marketing.
“I don’t want to necessarily call it a business, but I was looking at Reclaimed & Reborn through the lens of a business manager,” she explained. “What assumptions will people make based on our branding? How do I convince people to donate rather than sell at Goodwill or Plato’s Closet where they get money back for their contribution? How do I make them feel connected with my mission?”
Deffendoll would arrive early to her shifts at the BruinShop to sort, bag and fold clothes placed in the donation bins to keep her effort orderly. She kept a watchful eye over the bins, and after they reached maximum capacity, Deffendoll stored the bags in the trunk of her 2003 gold Toyota Camry. Once the mass of bags began to obscure the view from her rearview mirror, it was time for a trip to the Nashville Rescue Mission.
This past April, the need for additional sets of helping hands arose as Reclaimed & Reborn hosted its first sorting event. Two size sorters, two gender sorters and two baggers set up in the Johnson Center, and within a few hours, organized 60 bags worth of clothes to be donated to people in need.
Around this time, the idea of expansion began to creep into the back of Deffendoll’s mind. She listened to community feedback and decided another location could put clothes into the hands of those that need it — The Store, a nonprofit grocery store offering free groceries and clothing to those that need it, founded in 2020 by Belmont alumnus Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
To streamline her processes, Deffendoll changed the way she sorted her donation bags. Rather than grouping together like items such as men’s shirts, women’s pants, leggings, socks, etc., she began distributing different items equally across each bag, ensuring each met the needs of the location they were donated to.
Within only one year of Reclaimed & Reborn’s establishment, Deffendoll donated around 150 bags of clothes, clocking in at an estimated 2,250 pounds.
An Honor for Her Efforts
Near the end of her senior year, Deffendoll was sitting in class when she received a text from Dr. Bernard Turner, Belmont’s director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, that asked her to check her email.
“I thought it was a scam,” she laughed.
Upon opening her inbox, Deffendoll was greeted with an email informing her that she had been nominated for the Mary Mildreal Sullivan Award, an honor granted to a Belmont student who “demonstrates the highest standards of character, integrity and service to others and their community.” Unbeknownst to her, Gardner had nominated Deffendoll for the award, and April 10, Deffendoll walked across the stage at Belmont’s Scholarship and Awards Day to accept the award.
“That award is for everybody involved and it shows that people care about Reclaimed & Reborn. It’s not about me, it’s about the people we are trying to help,” she said. “That’s the most gratifying piece of this — we did something the world needs. It’s giving people an outlet to make the world a better place. It goes far beyond me.”
For everybody that's helped Reclaimed & Reborn, for anyone that's donated anything, for Jennings, for anyone that has contributed in any way through, thoughts, prayers, good vibes, clothes, anything — I want to make sure you know that your work was not in vain. We made a difference.
The Future of Reclaimed & Reborn
Deffendoll graduated in May 2024 and is still determining what the future of Reclaimed & Reborn will look like in her absence. While she is still hoping to be heavily involved, a new point person will be named at Belmont to ensure the impact of Reclaimed & Reborn continues. She has also considered expanding the cause to wherever she goes post-graduation, possibly in nearby churches, schools or shelters.
While the future for her passion project may seem unclear for the time being, the past is not — Deffendoll identified an opportunity and asked herself, “What I can do about this?”
From Kentucky to Tennessee, Deffendoll carried her spirit of service like a badge of honor. Staring at the cascading waves of clothes in the BruinShop’s backroom, she did not just see clutter – she saw potential. Through her hustle and heart, Deffendoll transformed unwanted clothes into symbols of dignity and care. Her legacy isn’t just about clothes, it is about making a difference and ensuring a future where no one gets tossed aside like yesterday’s fashion.
