Class Act

It is important to stay clean and healthy. Good hygiene keeps your body in top shape. People use hygiene products to do this. Toilet paper and laundry detergent are hygiene products. So is toothpaste.

These items are necessary, but they can be expensive. Some people cannot afford them. This is called hygiene poverty. Audrey Brown learned about hygiene poverty in sixth grade. She goes to AI Root Middle School, in Medina, Ohio. She and her classmates wanted to help people facing this problem.

Audrey stocks a tiny pantry in Medina, Ohio. It is full of free items for the community.

Hygiene Helpers

Audrey and her classmates held a hygiene drive. They worked with a charity to collect hygiene products. Audrey’s goal was to donate 10 bags of products. They were able to donate 17.

These are hygiene supplies. They will be sorted and donated.

Teacher Jodie Rubino picked Audrey to lead the project. “Audrey was amazing,” Rubino says.

“Everybody was amazing,” Audrey says. More than a hundred students worked together. They collected and sorted items. They bagged the items. They decorated the bags and added kind notes. Then the bags were donated to the Medina Personal Care Pantry.

Audrey and other students organize products for donation.

Doing More

In seventh grade, Audrey took the project further. She volunteered at the personal care pantry. She handed out products with her mom.

Audrey also helps stock a tiny pantry. It is filled with free items. Anyone can take what they need.

All this work makes Audrey feel good. “I really like doing service in my community,” she says. “I also love to see where the bags go, and how they’re helping people.”

Notes and decorative bags are sent with the hygiene supplies.