Hygeine Drive seeks soap and more for those in need

Donation box with clothes, living essentials

Missouri Highlands Health Care is accepting donations for their annual Hygiene Drive through the end of this week. The items they receive go to patients in need at their clinics and also fill the shelves at local shelters and crisis centers.

Donations are accepted at any Missouri Highlands Health Care clinic through June 30. The items needed most are deoerant, face and bath soap, dental and hair care items, feminine hygiene supplies, sunscreen, toilet paper and laundry soap.

“We take some of the items and we stock our clinics to help get us through the year with our patients that are in need,” said community health worker Patti Jo Denkins, who works at Missouri Highland’s Poplar Bluff location. “We have assessments and things that we do so we can identify those struggles.”

The surplus goes to crisis centers and local shelters including the United Gospel Rescue Mission, Haven House and Casa Guadalupe.

Denkins estimated the Poplar Bluff clinic sees one to two patients in need of hygiene items every week. Other Southeast Missouri clinics also see weekly needs.

“It’s something most people don’t think about somebody needing when they’re homeless. You always think about the food...it’s so much more,” she said.

Even people who aren’t technically homeless need hygiene items when their resources are devoted to other costs, she continued. “You’re going to worry about medical care and keeping that food in your belly before you’re going to worry about making sure you’ve got soap to clean.”

Receiving these items is a massive relief to people in need. Cleanliness not only improves physical health, Denkins has found it is vital to mental health as well.

“We’ve had people cry before when we give them [soap] because it is that little act of kindness to them that they’re not expecting, because it’s not a typical something that you see. And it gives them a little bit of an emotional relief... as you get dirty, it’s not just the physical, it’s the mental going with it. And it just helps in so many aspects just for them to be able to get clean.”

Missouri Highlands has clinics in Doniphan, Naylor, Van Buren, Eminence, Ellington, Annapolis, Pilot Knob and Viburnum. Clinic hours and addresses are available at mohigh.org.

Questions about the Hygiene Drive can be directed to Denkins at 573-604-1378 or pdenkins@mohigh.org.