By: Lily Amback/Opinion Editor and Pax Bilinski
The care closet located by the photo of the homecoming king and queen. Lily Amback / Crimson Messenger
In New Palestine, around 5.75% of households live underneath the poverty line. To compare, NPHS has close to 1,230 kids, meaning around 71 kids in NPHS don’t make enough money to buy everything they need.
To combat this, the counseling department has opened the Caring Closet. This new addition to the school is located in the main lobby near the homecoming king and queen photo.
The Caring Closet is a closet full of everyday essentials. Ranging from snacks to clothes, students can get what they need as long as there is a counselor present to open the closet.
Head counselor Caitlin Fangman noticed such amenities in other schools and thought that opening one in NPHS would be beneficial to all students.
To pay for the products to be stocked, the counseling department filled out a scholarship application from a Shelbyville company called Knauf Insulation.
“A local company, Knauf Insulation (located in Shelbyville, Indiana), has a grant program called Knauf Cares. We submitted a proposal for a grant to Knauf last year and were fortunate enough to receive the grant money,” said social worker Emma Natalie.
However, this was not the only way that they received resources. Senior Heidi Bloomer has also dedicated her time into this project by collecting items for the Caring Closet for her service learning class project.
“I chose to work with the Hope Center, the Hope House, and Changing Footprints. The main focus of the Giving Trees this year is to try to get the Caring Closet up and running and filled up so that students have the support that they need because, honestly, I had no idea that our school even had one, and so I’m hoping to provide and support a resource for the kids at our school,” Bloomer said.
These Giving Trees have a theme that switches every week. Rotating the items that are collected so that the Caring Closet has all the supplies it could possibly need.
To collect the items in need, she set up the Giving Trees that are placed around the school.
On Thursday, Oct. 16, Natalie sent out an email to the student body announcing the official opening of the Caring Closet.
“The Caring Closet is ready to open. Communication will soon be sent to students, faculty, and families. Along with the announcement, we will provide forms that allow families and students to request items and enable faculty to recommend students who may be in need. This system ensures that students can access the closet whenever they need it,” said Natalie. “Asking for help can be difficult, so sharing information with families and faculty helps start that conversation in a supportive way.”
Another reason the Caring Closet was founded was to help break the stigma around asking for help.
“The main goal of this project is to support students in need while also removing the stigma of asking for help. Everyone may need support at some point, and the Caring Closet is designed to make it easier and more comfortable for students to receive what they need. We hope this project helps students feel cared for and supported, both in their daily needs and in their overall well-being,” Natalie said.
Students can expect to find a wide array of materials at their disposal, including items used for hygiene, school supplies, and food.
“Over the past year, we have used grant money to stock the Caring Closet with many essential items for students,” Natalie said. “The closet includes toiletries such as deodorant, body wash, mini shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, laundry soap and feminine hygiene products. It also includes school supplies like binders, notebooks, pencils, pens, folders and backpacks. We plan to expand the school supply section further.”
However, there has been a mini Caring Closet open for around six years already. However, there has been a mini Caring Closet open for around six years already. English teacher Abigale Meyer’s gray cabinet in her room has everyday essentials such as disposable toothbrushes, snack foods, deodorant and more.
Meyer acquires these items through her Amazon wishlist that friends and family buy from and donate to her. However, when these donations no longer cover everything, she will use her own money and buy the needed items.
The idea for her Care Closet started during her first year of teaching.
“I think, my first year of teaching, I always kept oranges around, like little tangerines, just because I know people get snacky, and if you’re hungry, you can’t learn,” Meyer said. “So I just try to have that around, and then it turned into ‘Mrs. Meyer, do you have a hair tie?’ And then it turned into ‘Mrs. Meyer, do you have any mints?
Because I didn’t brush my teeth this morning,’ and then it just kind of grew from there.”
Now, Meyer is not alone in her endeavor to help students through essential daily supplies.
“From cleaning out the closet and relocating items from previous areas to researching and selecting new purchases, we’ve all put in a lot of hard work to make this happen. We are so excited that this project is finally coming to life,” Natalie said.
