Class Act

Can you guess the price of toothpaste? How about a 12-pack of soap? A big jug of laundry detergent?

These are some of the brainteasers that sixth graders at A.I. Root Middle School, in Medina, Ohio, considered recently. “It was a lot of fun,” 12-year-old Audrey Brown told TIME for Kids. The activity was inspired by The Price Is Right, a game show. Whenever a student guessed right, “all their friends would cheer,” Audrey says. “It got very, very loud.”

The game was a playful way to learn about a serious subject: hygiene poverty. That’s when people can’t afford the items they need for health and cleanliness.

GIVING BACK Audrey Brown stocks a tiny pantry in Medina, Ohio. It’s full of free items for the community.

Audrey and her classmates wanted to help people in this situation. They started a hygiene product drive at school. Their goal was to collect enough supplies to donate 10 paper grocery bags of products to the Medina Personal Care Pantry. They ended up donating 17 bags. Each contained about $45 worth of personal care and household cleaning products. “I’m really proud of how much we’ve learned as a class,” Audrey says.

STACK IT UP This haul of hygiene supplies is ready to be donated.

Tough Choices

Katy Medley leads a charity called Spark Medina. The group teamed up with Audrey’s school to run the hygiene product drive. It also helped students understand hygiene poverty and how it affects their community.

KIDS AT WORK Students at A.I. Root Middle School package personal care items for donation.

Medina County is one of the wealthiest in Ohio, Medley tells TFK. “Yet we have 28% of residents living paycheck-to-paycheck,” she says. “We know that means making sacrifices just to survive.” These can include cutting back on food to be able to buy diapers, or using dish soap as a cheaper substitute for shampoo.

GETTING ORGANIZED Audrey (right) works with other students to sort personal care items.

Teacher Jodie Rubino knows how much Audrey cares about community service. (In third grade, Audrey started Smile Mail, a program in which kids send cheerful cards to senior citizens. It’s still going strong.) Rubino picked Audrey as a project leader. One of Audrey’s first tasks was to help write a grant to get money to fund the project. “Audrey was amazing,” Rubino says. “She really wanted to be part of it.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Audrey volunteers with Spark Medina, a charitable organization in Ohio.

“Everybody was amazing,” Audrey is quick to point out. Some 114 students took action together to make the drive a success. They made posters to spread the word, decorated bags, filled them with donated products, and wrote encouraging notes to tuck inside.

“I have been in your shoes,” one note said. “I promise things will get better.”

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT Friendly notes written by students at A.I. Root accompany donations of supplies.

From the Heart

The first Saturday of every month is distribution day at the personal care pantry. Audrey, now in seventh grade, took the class project a step further by volunteering on that day with her mom. “She just has such a big heart and wanted to see it through to the end,” Rubino says.

Typically, the pantry distributes around 180 bags a month. Those donated by Audrey’s class were gone in 15 minutes. “One of my friends—her family was able to get a month’s worth of supplies,” Audrey says.

“I really like doing service in my community,” she adds. “I also love to see where the bags go, and how they’re helping people.”

Inspired?

Let Audrey’s story inspire you to promote wellness in your community. Click below for ideas about how you can make a positive difference.