The Belmont’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) Hygiene Drive provides a way for the community to help those in need by donating.
Running from Jan. 31 to Feb. 14, this drive featured several donation bins around the city, where people could drop off hygiene products, including toothpaste, soap, and feminine hygiene products. YAC will collect these products and donate them to Samaritan House once the drive ends.
Samaritan House is a nonprofit organization that collects donations to distribute to people in need. Jenny Knopf, the Director of Volunteer Engagement, Children’s and Seasonal Services, explains where donations go.
“They go to our various programs such as Kids Closet, Cora’s Community Market, food programs, shelters, Dining Room, and more. We help anyone facing poverty in San Mateo County with essential services like food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and dental care,” Knopf said.
The United States Census Bureau estimates indicate that 7.3% of San Mateo County’s population is impoverished. This equates to about 53,024 people as of July 2023. These people are the target audience for many of Belmont’s YAC drives.
“Our drives benefit people in the Belmont community. Staying hygienic or having clothes isn’t something anyone should worry about. These drives aim to help people overcome these challenges,” said Edward Kogan, the president of YAC.
Kogan is a member of the drives’ subcommittee, which organizes the local drives from start to finish.
“For this particular drive, we had to reach out to certain locations, such as San Carlos or the Barrett Community Center, for places to host the bins for collection. Then we donate everything we collect in this drive to Samaritan House,” Kogan said.
According to Jaysie Ho, the vice president of YAC, various subcommittees are responsible for different activities. These activities range from teaching seniors how to use their phones to helping kids learn about policing and civil service officers.
“Different subcommittees don’t overlap, except for the marketing subcommittee, because they don’t have their own activities to plan,” Ho said.
However, all these subcommittees have the same purpose of engaging Belmont’s youth in the community.
“The goal is to get all of the youth involved because, after COVID-19, people are spending their time indoors. We want more community involvement and volunteers to show other people, ‘Oh, you can do this too, and you can have fun with people in your community,’” Ho said.
According to Kogan, YAC also allows youth to turn their ideas into reality.
“If you’re passionate about community service and want to make a difference in your community, this is a great way to get involved. If you want to do something, bring it up in YAC and make it happen,” Kogan said.
Helping community members through donations to organizations such as Samaritan House is one of many ways people can get involved and make a difference. In the last 50 years, Samaritan House has housed 1,141 families and provided 69,000 nights of safe, warm sleep.
Kogan hopes that people will contribute to local drives like the YAC Hygiene Drive and do what they can to help less fortunate people.
“It helps our community when people donate, and it’s a great way to give back. Whatever you can give helps families in need, so if you can give, you should,” Kogan said.
