Two Troy Community School District 30-C schools – Troy Middle School and William B. Orenic Intermediate School – have set up hygiene pantries near the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms with the goal of providing necessities to students who can benefit from them. There are also smaller pantry carts in the nurses’ offices at each of Troy’s five elementary schools.

Local businesses and organizations contributed monetary and product donations to make the pantries possible.

“It’s been a philanthropy project,” said Marc Solodky, Troy Coordinator of Student and Family Services. “These donations show that this community is very caring and giving, taking care of their own.”

Solodky said the hygiene pantries include such items as deodorant, feminine hygiene products, soap, lotion, wet wipes, and toothbrushes and toothpaste.

The items are provided through an open concept model, he explained, allowing students to have access to hygiene products they may not otherwise have.

“With this project,” Solodky said, “we hope to make students feel more comfortable being at school, ultimately leading to improved attendance and student participation. We are hoping to remove some of the barriers they experience.”

The school district thanks the local sponsors that brought the project to life.

Contributing to the pantries have been Amita Health St. Joseph Hospital, D’Arcy Used Cars, Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que, Hope Lutheran Church, Joliet Dermatology, Joliet Elks Lodge 296, Harrah’s Joliet, PeopleFirst Bank, Shorewood Animal Hospital, Shorewood Bank & Trust, Shorewood Glen Service Group, Shorewood Hugs, Walgreens on Canton Road and West Lockport Arbor Group.

Solodky also thanked Troy Nurse Coordinator Sandy Smith and T.M.S. social studies teacher Jennifer Munday for their help with the project.

The school district is still accepting donations for the hygiene pantries. For more information, contact Marc Solodky at msolodky@troy30c.org.