St. Theresa’s Health Care Class Hygiene Collection
Written by Elizabeth Adams, Student Journalist
“Truly I tell you whatever you did for the least of these of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40)
As the liturgical year comes to an end and we look ahead to the season of Advent leading to Christmas, the weather is clearly turning colder. For those living in shelters this time of year is especially difficult. With this in mind the health care class at St. Theresa’s Catholic High School in Midland decided to take action to help those in our community who are struggling by starting a hygiene product drive. At this time of year there are many different toy drives, clothing drives, and food drives for those in need, but personal hygiene is often left forgotten. Mrs. Spence, the leading teacher, said,“We decided to do a hygiene project because there are so many people in our area who are lacking the basic necessities for personal care”.
The class started planning for this initiative early in October splitting everybody into groups that would be responsible for advertising, collection, sorting, and distribution. To advertise throughout the last weeks of November the health care class sent out a message to teachers to read to their classes asking them to take part. The health care students were looking for fellow students to bring in items like: toothbrushes, diapers, shampoo, soap, feminine hygiene products, pregnancy tests, razors etc. All of these products directly help individuals and families who are displaced from their homes, struggling financially, and without the care items they require.
So far in the collection it is a close tie between Mrs. Diening’s and Mrs. Rumney’s third period classes for the bringing in the most items. By the end of December the class is hoping to deliver up to 200 kits of hygiene products to various local shelters in Midland including: Rosewood, Out of the Cold, Pregnancy Resource Center, Youth Center, the Emergency Department, and Salvation Army.
This project also raises awareness that statistics report an estimate of upwards of 35,000 youth alone who are currently experiencing homelessness in Canada. It can also start a discussion in class about the importance of lending a hand to those in our community. Personal hygiene is a big contributor to our overall confidence and feelings of self-worth. Toothbrushes, soap, and shampoo are all things that we often take for granted in our everyday lives and we don’t think about what it would be like not to have them in our bathrooms when we wake up in the morning or get ready for bed. Students are demonstrating true St. Theresa’s spirit by doing small things with great love.