Family SOS is asking for donations of hygiene products for weekly Hygiene Drive

When many of us think about donating items to those in need, we tend to think of few common items: food, clothing and money.

But Family SOS, a local non-profit supporting children and families, is asking you to widen that net a bit. The organization is asking for donations of common hygiene products as part of a new weekly Hygiene Drive to help close that gap for people who struggle to afford personal care products.

“Last year when the pandemic hit, we responded to a need for food in the community,” says Mackenzie Parker, an online content coordinator with Family SOS. “But it doesn’t stop there.”

“In conjunction with healthy food, people need hygiene products, like shampoo and toothpaste and deodorant, all of those things.”

Family SOS is now accepting donations of common hygiene products every Thursday afternoon at its downtown office near the corner of Gottingen and Cornwallis, and is planning to distribute the items alongside their food packages.

Its clients, Parker says, “do often ask for things like shampoo or soap or feminine hygiene products, and we just thought that the best thing to do would be to have a weekly drive every Thursday at our office downtown.”

Food and hygiene products are in a sense similar in that access to them became far more limited when the pandemic hit. While many of us burned through more soap, sanitizer and body wash than we care to admit, that there remains such demand for them is a stark reminder of the unequal quality of pandemic life.

“Not having to think about where those things come from is a huge privilege,” Parker says. “We don’t want people to have to think about where are they going to get their soap, or are they going to have it, and how is that going to affect their school, or their work, or social lives?”

Take away those items, Parker says, and “it just makes it really hard to function in everyday life.”

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Parker says that while pretty much any donations will be useful, a few core items are most needed: diapers and baby wipes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorant and shampoo — “those things that really help people feel like a human and put themselves together,” Parker says.

On top of that, she encourages people to donate “those little extras” to help someone feel good, too — hairspray, hair gel, shaving cream or perfume all make for great donations. (She also highlights postpartum care products for new moms — something many people wouldn't think of, but for which demand is strong.)

“It’s nice for people to have those extras, and for people to feel like they can want a nice lotion or nail polish — those sorts of fun things that so many of us don’t really think about,” Parker says. With summer coming, seasonal items like sunscreen are important, as are often-overlooked items like nail files, hair brushes, clippers and lip balm.

On the flip side, if you are someone who is struggling with access to these kinds of items, Parker encourages reaching out to Family SOS, where there’s “no questions asked and all are welcome.”

The hope is that Family SOS is able to bring in enough donations to make hygiene products a permanent aspect of their work.

“I don’t see it ending anytime soon,” she says. “We’re hoping that we can make it a permanent fixture in our programming, and just have it be a thing every Thursday, whether they want to make a donation this Thursday or next Thursday or six Thursdays from now, they can do that anytime.”

The Family SOS downtown location can be found at 5450 Cornwallis. It also has a main office in Spryfield. Donations to the Hygiene Drive can be dropped off each Thursday between noon and 6 p.m.