ProPEL donates 120 kits to kids in need

This year Seniors involved in a group called ProPEL donated their time and energy into creating 120 kits for 120 homeless youth.

With homeless children holding 40 percent of the total homeless population in Minn. “We decided to make the kits for our class-wide service project because as a group we decided it was the best way to make a positive impact on teens and youth around our ages” said Carly Bass, senior.

ProPEL is a mentoring program designed to help seniors improve their interpersonal and interview skills in a field of work they’re interested in. The program also uses their time to construct new and creative ways of volunteering.

Kristen Slinde, health science and ProPEL teacher, assigned the project to the seniors earlier this year.

Through fundraisers such as the Noodles & Co event, “Coffee Shop” event and other donors, ProPEL raised the money to buy the supplies and contents needed to complete each kit.

”Once we raised the money, we had to figure out how many items we wanted to put in the bags, how much they’d cost and where to buy the items,” said Evie Barczak, senior.

According to a study done by youthmovingforward.org in 2013 1,151 homeless children under the age of 21 are living in Minn. alone. 40 percent are not using shelter services therefore living directly on the streets. Minn. has five homeless shelters in the whole state from Duluth to the Metropolitan area.

After all the items were bought, the students put together the kits, which took about a minute each. Each kit is gender neutral and contained daily items people take for granted such as a water bottle, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, conditioner, ramen, granola bars, hats, gloves, socks, a first aid kit, hand sanitizer, kleenex, socks, pop tarts, and cereal or oatmeal.

The kits were also personalized by the shampoo and soap.  After the bags were prepared and ready for the kids, an organization called The Link picked up the kits and gave them to the shelters. The Link is an organization designed to work with homeless youth and families in Minn.

“Around holiday time, people tend to think more about gift items rather than the everyday needs so we were able to bridge the gap and make sure they have both” said Carly Bass, senior.

HHS ProPEL isn’t the only program making kits. Another program called Do Something had a similar idea where anyone could make kits through their website. Do something is an international organization based in New York. Once the homemade kit have been made, they give you shelters in your area where you can drop off the kits and see the children’s living arrangements.

After the kits were made and delivered, the seniors of ProPEL felt proud of what they had done to help the homeless youth.

“It felt really good knowing that we were making a positive impact on the lives of the youth. The kits are providing the homeless youth with basic necessities. The youth now don’t have to worry about having these necessities” said Amanda Mathison, senior.