Senior students provide laundry essentials to those in need
It’s easy to take clean clothes for granted.
But for some students — without the needed cash or the opportunity to use a washing machine — it is a choice that they don’t have.
Lauren Beneigh and her friend, Jordyn Slater, are working to change that. The students are making laundry bags available to Butler Area School District students who are less fortunate than others.
The idea to make these laundry bags came about in the summer of 2024.
“I made them kind of last month, I started with the idea in summer, and I spoke to Mr. (Jason) Huffman,” said senior Lauren Beneigh. “It kind of took a while to get the funds together, but we were able to make them this month.”
The laundry bag includes many essentials for doing laundry.
“We made 30, they contain a couple of dryer sheets, a couple of Tide Pods, a mesh laundry bag, $10 in quarters, and a piece of paper that has the place and location for three different laundry mats within Butler, and a little note,” said Sarah Beneigh, Butler Senior High School guidance counselor.
The idea to make these laundry bags came about while the students were volunteering.
“I volunteer down at Broad Street Elementary School after school and I noticed that a lot of the students were kind of dirty, had health problems, lice, all that stuff, and they don’t smell great,” Lauren said.
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She saw similar situations at the high school.
“I realized that even with being older, they don’t have as many supplies or money to be able to get themselves clean like, free water,” Lauren said. “So I decided I kind of wanted to give them support and something they can use for free to go down and make themselves feel better, or make themselves feel clean.”
She noted some of the students were made fun of by classmates.
“In my art class last year, I had someone making fun of a girl because she didn’t smell very good, and I could tell it really affected her,” Lauren said.” So I wanted to try to eliminate that as much as possible.”
Students at the Senior High School can get the laundry bags by speaking to a guidance counselor or stopping at the Tornado Shelter.
“Once this is advertised, we wait on students to come to us. When a student wants one, they can come see any of the counselors and we have them right here in our office, so we will just directly hand it to them. We also have about five or six in the Tornado Shelter for Mrs. Tammy Binder to pass out,” Mrs. Beneigh said.
Ryan Maire is a senior in the Butler Area School District.
