Three Ways to Aid

Cleaning supplies, toilet paper, toiletries such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, etc.

These are what the men at the Liahona Home are often short of, at least one of those things or another.

I see these as three different things, or three different opportunities to aid, for those who sometimes ask us, "How can I help?":

One, if any one is interested in aiding with some extra cleaning supplies, such that you might have a bottle or two of such and so sitting under your sink collecting dust, that would be of aid. Windex, furniture polish, bleach, rags, air freshener, that kind of thing.

Two, toilet paper is always a point of contention at that house, as in "who's using who's and who's not chipping in", so any donations of that are always of aid!

Three, a kind of "toiletries starter kit", such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, bar of soap, bottle of shampoo, bottle of mouthwash, pack of disposable Bic shavers, deodorant stick, comb and all of that packaged in some bath towel, would be of general aid. In that scenario, it would be nice to have some of those so as to give to each new guest as they first come in.

Our turnover not being exceptionally high, I'm picturing starting with one dozen of such bath towel wrapped "kits".

(By the way, such kits - with the addition of a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet listing various social services in your area - are what you should have made up and sitting in your car, so that if you see someone holding a "Will work for food" sign you can give them that. In that scenario you'd probably skip the towel and have it all in a plastic bag. You'd include a $5 McDonald's gift certificate, too, if you liked.

The beauty of such bags is that they can't be misused! Cash usually does far more harm than good, for those still on the street.)

Back to our sober living home, the toiletry kits wrapped in a towel would be a wonderful welcome gift to each new guest, and would always be of help.

Below: Used towels are fine for wrapping up toiletries, but such should be already laundered and serviceable.