Tygart Valley United Way Kids Hygiene Collection Drive begins Sunday

ELKINS — The sixth annual Tygart Valley United Way Kids Hygiene Collection Drive will get underway on June 15 as collection begins for 50 schools in Randolph, Tucker, Barbour, Taylor, and Marion counties.

Boxes will be set up at select locations in each county so that hygiene and personal care items can be collected for kids in kindergarten through the 12th grade. The collection boxes will remain up until Aug. 15.

“This is officially our sixth year for the drive and we had a very successful year with it in 2024,” United Way Regional Engagement Director JoLynn Powers told The Inter-Mountain this week. “We grew in partners last year and were able to provide close to 5,000 donated items to area schools.”

The drive is held each year to ensure that every student in the Tygart Valley United Way’s region has access to needed items when returning to school.

“Our most needed items are men’s and women’s deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, and things like socks and underwear for all age groups,” Powers said. “One of the new requests we have had for this year is little girls’ leggings for elementary and middle school especially.

“We also take unisex shorts, t-shirts, tooth brushes, and toothpaste. Our biggest donation needs are at the high schools, of course, and those are usually deodorant and feminine hygiene products. That’s the largest group that gets donations, the high schools.”

Some of the sites where boxes in Randolph County will be located include Freedom Bank, Davis Trust Bank, Citizens Bank, Mountain Valley Bank, Huntington Bank, Davis Medical Center, Reckart Logistics, and the Tygarts Valley United Way Office on 11th Street in Elkins.

“We will have the boxes set up at different locations all across each county,” said Powers. “We have a list of all the drop-off spots on our website, tvunitedway.org. Any additional information about the drive can be found there, as well.”

Powers said the burden of stocking school hygiene pantries at schools often falls to the teachers. The drive is intended to help ease that burden and stock up the pantries for the start of the fall semester.

“We have 10 volunteers who do nothing but sort and pack the donations,” Powers said. “It takes a whole day just to sort and pack all the donations we receive… Every school in all five counties gets at least one tote with about 400 items in them. But the high schools get two totes because the population is so high at those schools, so they are closer to 800 items at each one.”

Powers said the items collected from the drive help students feel confident going to school.

“The students need the items to feel good about going to school and it really relieves the burden on our teachers,” said Powers. “We know that kids that normally wouldn’t go to school because they don’t have a body wash to take a shower with, or soap, are able to feel more comfortable attending school. It’s really important to keep young women students in our schools.”

Powers added that each school has a hygiene closet, and once the items are distributed, the schools will give them to students when needed.

“The students are able to go to those closets and either ask for an item, or pick something out,” said Powers. “The items are available for any student at any time the schools are open.”