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Sunrise Rotary helps stock schools’ hygiene closets

Club hopes to help students across Belmont County

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The St. Clairsville Sunrise Rotary is helping to stock the closets of local schools with hygiene products as part of a community initiative.

The Rotary’s first stop was to St. Clairsville High School, where members donated around $150 worth of items to the school’s Hygiene Closet on Friday. The closet helps supply students in need with supplies such as toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, laundry detergent and feminine products.

Alicia Jordan, president of the Sunrise Rotary, said members are working to gauge the needs of the remaining schools in Belmont County. She said the club is always looking for ways to give back to the community, which is what prompted this new project.

“One of the ladies in our club, her church was actually doing a hygiene fundraiser for one of the local schools so we thought how can we piggyback off of this and make it a little bit bigger and this is what we came up with,” she added.

Jordan said the goal is to assist every school in the county with their hygiene supplies needs.

“We reached out to all the schools in the community so Bridgeport, Martins Ferry, Union Local, St. Clairsville. … We’re just waiting to get more information from the other schools,” she said.

Jordan said students who are in need of a product in St. Clairsville High School can discreetly obtain the items from the school’s “hygiene closet.”

“Students can go to this closet and get the hygiene products that they need without anyone knowing. It’s really just a benefit for the student. … We have found that there are many students who don’t have access to those items, whether it may be that they don’t come from a good home or they can’t afford it. We don’t know the exact reason, but there are a lot of students in need of these products,” she said.

Jordan said Belmont Savings Bank and St. Clairsville Walmart donated toward the project, allowing Rotary members to purchase the items for the school.

“We provided toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, feminine products, body sprays, whatever we could think of, but nothing that could harm the child like razors. We went off of what the school suggested to us,” she said.

Jordan said she hopes the items will last the school for some time and that students are able to receive the products they need.

“I hope they take advantage of it,” she added.

Superintendent Walter Skaggs said the district’s staff appreciates the support from the Rotary.

“We are blessed with some very supportive organizations in our community who go above and beyond to make sure our students, especially those with needs such as this, are met,” he said.

Any school in the area that has a similar program to the hygiene closet and would like some assistance is encouraged to reach out to the Rotary via Facebook.

“We would love to be able to help as many schools as we possibly can, and as many students,” Jordan said.

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