Mt. Lebanon students assemble personal care kits for local families in need

So many people are struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic due to unemployment or reduced work hours. Some local schools and families are helping those people with a project that’s still looking for more volunteers.

Pallets loaded with boxes fill Global Links’ warehouse in Green Tree. Inside the boxes are gallon-sized plastic bags with personal hygiene items. On Wednesday, Mt. Lebanon High School students delivered 855 of these bags.

“These students from Mt. Lebanon warm our hearts and inspire us to do more, and I hope they inspire our community to help us with this project,” said Angela Garcia, executive director of Global Links.

She says Global Links’ goal is to collect 21,000 kits by the end of 2021.

“Being that it’s challenging to volunteer in this COVID world, our team came up with a volunteer project any individual, student, faith-based groups, corporations can do at their home or building,” Garcia said.

KDKA’s Kristine Sorensen says it’s easy to do. She and her three children shopped for the items and assembled them at home. She said it was a good way to help them understand that not everyone can afford personal hygiene items that are important for health and dignity.

“Government assistance programs do not cover these. So families on a limited income, low income, have to use their cash to make decisions on these necessities and food and rent,” Garcia said.

The kits go to local nonprofits that reach people who are unemployed, single parents, people in domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, and more.

Want to help? Participants first register at bit.ly/GlobalLinksPersonalCareKit , where you will also find instructions on assembling the kits. Items should be placed in 1- or 2-gallon zipper-style bags, with each bag including one each of the following:

• Shampoo
• Bar of soap
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Moisturizer/lotion
• Deodorant

All items should be new and full-sized, no travel or extra-large sizes.