The Caring Closet will supply hygiene needs — and confidence, says founder

— Photo from Amanda Beedle

Hygiene necessities as well as niceties were presented to 27 girls at Christmastime by Amanda Beedle. Now such items — as well as those for boys, too — will be available at The Caring Closet at Guilderland High School.

GUILDERLAND — A Caring Closet in the west office of Guilderland High School holds items like toothpaste and toothbrushes, lip gloss and hair scrunchies, and deodorant and shampoo.

It’s the brainchild of Amanda Beedle, adopted unanimously by the school board on Tuesday.

“This sounds really awesome,” said school board President Seema Rivera.

“A strong community network is already established,” said Neil Sanders, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

Beedle, who was elected to the Guilderland Town Board in November, quietly started building that network as Christmas approached. School nurses had compiled a list of families who would appreciate gifts for the holidays. 

Beedle wanted to concentrate on teenagers because she felt most people would focus on younger children. She put together 27 bags for girls. The bags included not just personal-care necessities but also extra niceties like pedicure kits and movie tickets.

“I’ve not been shy about how I grew up,” Beedle told The Enterprise this week. “Growing up poor and sometimes not having access to a lot of things people had access to — we were on welfare, and we were on food stamps — I was a recipient of community generosity and wanted to give back when I got older.”

Lisa Peck, who has long worked at the high school office, was touched by Beedle’s contribution, she said. “She said, ‘Amanda, you don’t even understand what this means to these kids.’ And I said, ‘Sadly I do.’”

Beedle wanted to do more. “I want to connect our community,” she said, naming Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and ladies’ auxiliaries of fire departments that she has visited. She talked to the women who own the salon she goes to, Ink & Ivy House of Beauty in Guilderland Center, whom she said were immediately on board and set up a donation box there.

“Because our idea was, who goes into salons? Women. Who are the maternal caregivers? Women.” The salon could become a satellite location, Beedle said, if kids need personal-care items when school is closed.

Beedle also hopes to put donation boxes in local libraries and said that Danielle Walsh, who heads the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, is supportive of the ongoing drive.

Beedle would also like to include donations of gently-used clothes. “It’s not just the hygiene but some of these kids would feel better about themselves with some of the nicer clothing they can’t afford,” she said.

“I wanted to start at the high school,” Beedle said, “because I figured they have the backpack program where food gets sent home on the weekend so they can eat well.” Peck told her that sometimes parents call and ask if hygiene products can be added to the food supplies; teachers and teachers’ aids were paying for that out of their own pockets, Beedle said, before she stepped in.

She hopes eventually to establish similar closets at the middle school and at each of the district’s five elementary schools. “Children need to know that somebody cares so that they can continue on with confidence. It’s not just having full bellies. They need to know that they don’t smell bad or that they have proper dental hygiene to be confident,” said Beedle. “It blows my mind because it’s happening right here in our town.”

Beedle went on about The Caring Closet, “It’s to be for anybody that needs something … to have a place to go to, with no shame, no worries of having to pay for anything.” Families can reach out to the school and ask for something to be sent home if the student is too embarrassed to go.

“Because there is that stigma and I know it all too well,” said Beedle.

She concluded, “My idea was, a lot of love and caring is going to go into this closet, and a lot of smiles and happiness is going to come out. That’s The Caring Closet.”

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Items that can be donated to The Caring Closet include body wash and bar soap, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrushes, dental floss, deodorant, feminie hygiene pads, tampons, body splashes, facial cleanser, and lotion. For more information on getting involved, contact Amanda Beedle at TheCaringClosetGuilderland@gmail.com.

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