Franklin Leadership Group pitches in with hygiene supplies

An overflowing box of health and beauty products became an exciting treasure trove Tuesday morning as the Franklin School Leadership Group pawed through it, sorting it into dozens of piles in preparation for its distribution to children in need.

For the last month, the students have been collecting rolls of toilet paper, bars of soap, bottles of shampoo and other hygiene products to donate to the Homeless Education Project, administrated by the Corvallis Schools Foundation. Organizer Carolyn Hinds spoke to the leadership class in mid-October about the needs of many homeless and displaced children living within the district.

"There are a lot of unmet, invisible needs," Hinds said.

Jennifer England, adviser to the leadership group, said her students were surprised to learn about the level of poverty some of their fellow classmates face.

"What would that be like, to have no toilet paper?" she said her students asked each other after Hinds' presentation.

For Hinds, a big part of the problem is a lack of awareness on the basics of being poor in the county. For instance, food stamps can't be used to buy hygiene products, and for families who barely have enough to pay for bills, sometimes it comes down to a choice between paying for electricity, or buying soap and shampoo.

"When people learn about that need, I've never had a group that didn't want to help," Hinds said.

Not only does the Homeless Education Project help families in dire need, but sometimes Hinds helps place children from bad living situations into safer ones. Recently, she said, a middle school student whose family was involved in meth was looking for a safer place to stay. Hinds helped her find a safe family willing to take the student in, and allow the student to continue to do well in school.

"It's a wonderful example of goodwill," Hinds said.

With England's help, the leadership class wrote to a number of local dentists in the area, asking for donations of toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste. A dozen dentists responded and donated a stack of oral hygiene products to add to the donations gathered within the school by each leadership student.

Natalie Amodei, a third-grader at Franklin, helped sort through the stack of donations to create a huge pile of toilet paper rolls, and said she liked the idea of helping poorer residents.

"By helping others, they gain more endurance in their life," Amodei said. "I'm excited we have a chance to help them."

Third-grader Layah Carey agreed. She said that most of her classmates are used to having a lot of things, but realized that other students aren't so lucky.

"It's cool to help kids who aren't used to having so many things," she said.

For Kera Forrest, the reason for helping was simple.

"It just makes me happy."

As soon as the Thanksgiving holiday has ended, the Franklin leadership group will focus on another charitable task, gathering food for Vina Moses Center holiday meals.

Touchdown food drive

The women of Delta Sigma Theta, Beta Psi Chapter at Oregon State University completed their second annual Touchdown Hunger Food Drive this week in conjunction with this weekend's Civil War game.

The sorority collected nonperishable food items from the Corvallis community over the last two weeks for the benefit of six Corvallis families in need. In addition to the food, the women raised $1,000 to distribute as grocery gift cards to the families.

They distributed the food and gift cards to the families Tuesday night.