Hope Soap is
a sister project of It’s Spooky
To Be Hungry®, also under the aegis of our parent non-profit
corporation, Big Changes Start
Small, Inc.®
Hope Soap is a clearinghouse for the collection and distribution
of donated personal care items. Toiletries and hotel amenities,
primarily donated by business or vacation travelers, are dropped
in collection boxes located throughout the greater Augusta
area (the CSRA, see FAQs). Hope Soap volunteers sort and package
the donations into personal care kits. These kits are distributed,
largely through social service agencies, to individuals who
could benefit from them. Hope Soap recipients include people
in emergency or transitional shelters and housing, homeless
individuals, individuals and families in medical or domestic
crisis, individuals in residential treatment programs, and
inner city children. In 2005, Hope Soap also organized an
emergency collection of personal care items for victims of
Hurricane Katrina. In an amazing outpouring of community support,
over only a ten day period, Hope Soap was able to collect
and ship 10,000 pounds of toiletries and related items to
the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.
Through Hope Soap, we strive to fill a small but real need
for personal care items among some members of our community,
while also seeking to strengthen a community network of caring
and compassion. We believe that Hope Soap donors, through
participation in this simple act of caring for others, find
an easy and satisfying way to reinforce habits of everyday
altruism and compassion in their own lives.
Save your hotel amenities when you travel. Donate shampoo,
soap, conditioner, razors, feminine care items, cosmetics,
deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you live in the
greater Augusta, Georgia area (the CSRA) please contact us
-- we can let you know where to drop off your Hope Soap donation.
Hope Soap currently operates only in the CSRA, but we are
ready to provide assistance to anyone considering setting
up a similar program in their community. Contact us to learn
more about a starting Hope Soap project where you live.
