Shine Bright packs personal hygiene kits for area students

Area families struggling to afford essentials may rest a little easier this year thanks to a true community effort.

Hundreds of community members gathered at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs earlier this month to assemble nearly 5,000 essential hygiene kits for students in the Papillion La Vista, Omaha and Council Bluffs school districts as well as Jobs for America Graduate's Nebraska students.

Essential hygiene items line a table as volunteers ready to pack Shine Bright kits for donation to area schools, including the Papillion La Vista Community Schools. Shine Bright is a program of United Way of the Midlands.

In its third year, Shine Bright is a partnership between United Way of the Midlands and schools in the metropolian area.

Shine Bright kits offer full-sized essential hygiene items — including soap, shampoo, conditioner and dental products — that help students feel good so they can succeed in the classroom and life, according to a news release. The boxes are distributed to students in need throughout the participating school districts.

The Papillion La Vista Community Schools received 250 of the kits through its first-year participation in the program, spokesperson Annette Eyman said, the majority of which were distributed at the PLCS Community Closet event to kick off the school year.

Volunteers from the Omaha Public Power District assemble Shine Bright hygiene kits for donation to area students at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs on Wednesday, Aug. 9. Shine Bright is a program by United Way of the Midlands.

The closet provides free clothing and personal hygiene items for the whole family of students in Papillion La Vista Community Schools or living within the communities its serves.

"They went really fast," Eyman said. "They were a high demand from people that attended that Community Closet."

The district also saved some of the kits, sending them directly to some of the school buildings in higher need areas.

"Counselors and social workers distributed them to different families that needed them," Eyman said.

Volunteers assemble Shine Bright hygiene kits for donation to area students at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs on Wednesday, Aug. 9. Shine Bright is a program by United Way of the Midlands.

With inflation placing increased pressures on families throughout the metro, area, it's a pivotal time for the project said Maureen Irish, director of strategic relationships at United Way of the Midlands.

"It's really hard for families to be able to afford essential hygiene items," she said. "The project takes a financial burden off families.

"Any way that we can help families as they prepare for back to school — that can be a really stressful time as they're looking at their budgets and trying to afford school supplies — this is just a great opportunity to be able to help them and ease the load and make sure that kids are going back to the school with confidence and feeling their best, and ready to learn for the new year."

Shine Bright kits are packed and ready for distribution at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Along with volunteers from various Omaha metro area businesses taking time to assemble the kits, United Way of the Midlands works with sponsors to gather the necessary items for the kits, including Google and Mid-America Center this year, among many others. Volunteers also helped sort and deliver packages.

"The best part about those kits is that it helped our more vulnerable families start the year off right," Eyman said. "One of the comments we heard from a lot of the families is that they weren't travel-sized bottles, they were full-sized bottles, which makes a huge difference and will last a long time for many of those families."

United Way of the Midlands is always seeking new volunteers for its growing number of programs, such as its upcoming Day of Caring on Sept. 15. Visit unitedwaymidlands.org for more information.

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